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Kent Cricket batsman Joe Denly tips opening partner Daniel Bell-Drummond to win senior England recognition after his century for the Lions

After his sparkling form for club and country in the past week, Daniel Bell-Drummond has been tipped for England honours by his team-mate Joe Denly.

The pair amassed a record 203 for the opening wicket in Tuesday night’s One-Day Cup win at Hampshire just a day after Bell-Drummond struck a one-day career-best of 171 not out as England Lions completed a Tri-series clean sweep by beating Sri Lanka A at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.

The 22-year-old shared an unbroken second-wicket stand of 367 – just six short of the highest limited-overs partnership of all time – with Kent-born batsman Ben Duckett, who scored 220 not out.

Daniel Bell-Drummond in action for England Lions against Pakistan A Picture: Chris Davey
Daniel Bell-Drummond in action for England Lions against Pakistan A Picture: Chris Davey

Bell-Drummond hit 15 fours and four sixes in the Lions’ total of 425-1 – the highest one-day score recorded at the ground – while Duckett’s knock was the highest ever recorded in one-day cricket at Canterbury, surpassing the 175 scored by Kent’s Sam Billings for the Lions against Pakistan A the previous day.

Denly said: “Deebs continues his fine form for the whole season. Hopefully we see more of him but it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets a call-up in the future.

“I see him getting a call-up for England in any form. He has been in fine form in all formats for us. He has come on in white ball cricket this year, his red ball cricket has always been great.

“I hope he gets a call-up in some form soon and I’m sure he won’t mind which. He has been playing Lions this past week and scoring big hundreds for them so it can’t be too far away.

“There are a lot of players who have been scoring runs but he must be up there with the next best.”

He added: “I would tell him to keep going the same way he has been. He has matured this year and just loves scoring runs. He is hard to get out and hard to set fields to so he needs to keep doing that.”

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