Ashes 2019 | Would've been nice to get the hundred, says Joe Denly

09/15/2019

Joe Denly missed out on what would've been his first Test hundred as he fell six runs short of the milestone. However, the 33-year-old England batsman cherished the memory as "a pretty special couple of days" on the field and in his personal life since he became a dad for the second time.

On day four of the fifth and final Ashes Test, at The Oval, right-handed English batsman Joe Denly edged to an outswinger by Peter Siddle which landed as safe catch to Steve Smith at the first slip.

Despite not reaching his first Test hundred, Denly could cherish the memory of his highest score in the longest format as his 94 proved to be crucial in England cause as it was instrumental in England taking a huge lead of 382 against Australia.

"I obviously headed back a couple of days ago, fortunate enough to be able to leave early," Denly was quoted saying by Sportstar. "I missed the birth of my first child so it was good to get there and see my little girl come into the world, pretty special couple of days.

"It would have been nice to get to that milestone having worked so hard to get into that position, but England are in a very good position, going into day four hopefully we can get a few more runs and put them under pressure."

After scoring his highest Test score in 14 innings, Denly could relish his last couple of days which were "pretty special" reflecting back to the birth of his second child on Friday, which he was able to witness. Denly had missed the birth of his first child by a few minutes as he was playing for Kent in Derby. However, this time he was right on time by the side of his wife who gave birth to a girl child.

"Very good last night because I stayed at the hotel, I got about 10 hours I think, the previous night I had about three hours, certainly caught up on that last night," Denly spoke about the birth of his daughter.

"I think when you're batting at the top of the order for England there's always that pressure and expectation from England supporters for you to score runs and do well," he added.

"It's been frustrating this series to get starts and not being able to capitalise. I felt pretty good today, it's a very good bowling attack we're coming up against each game, which you expect at Test level but this Australia attack is certainly up there and make you work hard for every single run.

"Hopefully I've impressed the selectors and those guys that pick these winter tours and we'll just have to wait and see."