England's comeback man Denly is eyeing a Test spot

When Denly broke into the England team in 2009, it was solely for his abilities with the bat – in fact he opened the batting, and never once rolled his arm over in any of the nine one-day internationals he played.

Fast forward nine years, and it seems that Denly is in equal parts a capable bowler and a batsman. If anything, in his first performance in an England shirt after the break, he impressed more with the ball.

A practioner of leg-spin bowling, Denly says he has made huge advances in the past couple of years, and now backs himself to land accurate leg-breaks – a skill that could come in handy in the upcoming three-match Test series in Sri Lanka as well.

He has statistics behind him to prove that his haul in the T20I was no fluke. In the 2018 T20 Blast, he was among the leading wicket-takers, finishing with 20 scalps at 16.75. He also picked up 23 wickets at 18.52 in the County Championship and 14 wickets at 30.78 in the domestic One-Day Cup.

Denly feels his expertise as a batsman has helped shape him into a better bowler. "Being, primarily, a batsman, I feel I have a pretty good sense of what batsmen are trying to do," the 32-year-old said. "I back myself to land my leg-spinner reasonably well, and I enjoy opening the bowling. I did it for Kent in T20 last summer."

The ability to put in contributions with both bat and ball has inspired new confidence in Denly, and he reiterated that he's just enjoying his game now.

"I've had some ups and downs in the last eight years," he said. "But, over the last two or three years, I've enjoyed my cricket a lot more. I've played with a bit more freedom and I've learned to deal with failure a lot better.

"I feel (like) a different player to the one I was in 2010. This time I've come in with the attitude of embracing it and enjoying every moment of it.

"Getting a chance, performing with the ball and chipping in with a little 20 down the lower-order can only give me confidence. It's certainly nice to get a game in before the red-ball stuff starts."

Denly has made his ambitions to play the upcoming Tests very clear, and knows he could have the edge over some of the others because of his bowling. Towards that end, he hopes to make a mark in the two-day warm-up fixture, starting on 30 October.

"Obviously there's a spot up for grabs at the top of the [Test] order," he said. "Being able to bowl might work in my favour. But it comes down to performing in these warm-up games and putting your name forward for that first Test. I'm certainly going into those practice games looking forward to performing, scoring runs and giving myself the best chance."

The first of three Tests will get underway in Galle on 6 November, and if all goes to plan for Denly, he could be making his Test debut.