England spinner Jack Leach dismissed the uncle-newphew pair of Joe and Jaydn Denly in a One-Day Cup match between Somerset and Kent on Sunday (August 25).
Batting first at the Spitfire Ground in St Lawrence, Kent, lost their first wicket for 17 when Ben Dawkins was dismissed for a run-a-ball five. That brought Joe Denly to the crease at No.3 to join his nephew, 19-year-old Jaydn. The pair had last batted together on Jaydn's first-class debut against Essex in April last year, when they stitched a 51-run stand to help Kent secure a draw in a 374-run chase.
On Sunday, they stitched a 97-run stand for the second wicket, a partnership that lasted 113 deliveries. Joe was the first to fall, for 39, when he was caught at cover while trying to play a lofted inside-out shot to Jack Leach off the first ball of the 22nd over. Jaydn followed his uncle back to the dressing room three balls later, as he handed a return catch to Leach to be out for 65 off 72 balls, having hit nine fours and a six.
This was Jaydn’s third fifty-plus score in five innings in the One-Day Cup this year. His previous four knocks coming into this match read 52, 91, 10, and 20. Earlier, in July, he was also part of the Youth Test series against India Under-19 at home.
Meanwhile, his uncle, 39-year-old Joe, played for Kent for the first time back in 2004. He went on to play 15 Tests, 16 ODIs, and 13 T20Is for England after his international debut in 2009.
Lovely work, Jaydn 👏
— Kent Spitfires (@KentCricket) August 24, 2025
🎥 LIVE Match Centre: https://t.co/ZTJpIrM9xb pic.twitter.com/Z2t7ILDn7N
Kent posted 269-9, a total that was chased down relatively effortlessly by Somerset thanks to a century from Tom Lammonby. His innings took his team to a four-wicket win with 5.3 overs to spare.
Match 61, Kent vs Somerset
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Have any uncle-nephew pairs played together in international cricket?
Afghanistan's uncle-nephew pair of Noor Ali Zadran and Ibrahim Zadran is a recent example of such a duo in international cricket. They stitched a 106-run partnership in a Test against Sri Lanka in 2024. Another instance involved Afghanistan as well, in a Test against Ireland at Dehradun in 2019, where spinner Waqar Salamkheil played under the captaincy of his uncle, Asghar Afghan.
Also read: Afghanistan Test spinner gets retired Bangladesh great, Pakistan all-rounder in CPL four-wicket haul
There have also been other uncle-nephew pairs, though their careers did not overlap. Examples include Australia's Ricky Ponting and Greg Campbell, and Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Ian Healy and Alyssa Healy are a rare example of an uncle-niece pair.
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