Joe Denly banks on flexibility to fit into England line-up

He along with Rory Burns and Olly Stone are the uncapped players named by Ed Smith’s selection panel for England’s Tests against Sri Lanka.

Denly, 32, last played for England in a Twenty20 International in 2010, bringing his total number of England appearances to 14. Given the long break away from the side, he admitted that he feared he might never get to represent his country again.

"I suppose I always held on to hoping that the opportunity hadn't gone and thankfully it hasn't," he told SkySports.

Denly’s call-up comes on the back of a prolific domestic season, where his 798 first-class runs and 20 wickets with his part-time leg-spin did their bit in ensuring Kent’s promotion from Division Two. He had also made history in the T20 competition, getting a century and a hat-trick in the same match.

Alastair Cook’s retirement has left a spot empty at the top of the order for England, and the team isn’t fully clear on who their No.3 is either. Denly is keen to do whatever is asked of him.

"I've batted in all positions and I think that's probably helped my selection," he said. "I started my career as an opening bat and moved down to No.3; I've batted at No.4 as well.

"I think that's what I've got to do, I've got to prepare to bat in all those positions and, hopefully, if selected in a game I can take that chance at whatever number that is.”

Burns, meanwhile, said he was relieved to get the call-up. The batsman has crossed 1,000 runs in the County Championship five seasons running, and is the leading run-scorer in the competition this year.

"I'm really delighted," he told BBC Radio London. "There has been a bit of hearsay about me getting called up and I've had a lot of questions about it, so it was nice to get the call to put an end to that, stop worrying about it and just get on with my business.

"I've never been to Sri Lanka before so that'll be something new and I'm looking forward to getting going."