Denly joins Bangladesh rush

Middlesex's batsman Joe Denly has flown out of Heathrow bound for Bangladesh as one of a rush of emergency replacements for Bangladesh's T20 tournament. He will play for Barisal Burners.

Denly joins the sprinkling of English county players who have ignored warnings from Angus Porter, the PCA's chief executive, about potential payment problems and instead are gambling on making an impact in a televised domestic Twenty20 tournament.

"I'm delighted to have received a call up from Barisal, and am looking forward to joining up with my new teammates," Denly said at Heathrow Airport. "This is a great opportunity for me, and one that I am really looking forward to.

"It's been a little frantic since getting the call up, and having rushed to get my kit together, I am now thankfully sat relaxing in the departures lounge at Heathrow awaiting my flight out. I'm grateful to Middlesex for allowing me to set off at such short notice."

Denly, who played for England in nine ODIs and five T20s without ever suggesting he would become a permanent fixture, finished third in Middlesex's FLt20 averages last season, averaging 28.42 in eight matches with a strike rate of 101.

The BPL has been thrown into chaos by the Pakistan Cricket Board's refusal to issue No Objection certificates to 26 Pakistan players, so communicating their displeasure that Bangladesh had abandoned plans to tour Pakistan on security grounds. While tit-for-tat reprisals go on, a few English county players are picking up last-minute deals and rushing to the airport. Mooen Ali, the Warwickshire allrounder, has joined Duronto Rajshahi.

Middlesex's managing director of cricket, Angus Fraser, said: "When Joe told us that he'd been asked to fly over to Bangladesh to join up with the Barisal franchise, and that he was keen to take advantage of this opportunity, we were more than happy to back his decision."