Joe Denly is heading to Sri Lanka earlier than expected after being drafted into England's one-day squad.

The Kent vice-captain has been called up to replace injured Hampshire left-arm spinner Liam Dawson.

Dawson played in Saturday's rain-affected win in Dambulla which put England 1-0 ahead in the five-game series, but now has a side strain which is likely to rule him out for a month.

Denly was due to fly out as part of England's Test squad on October 25 but is now due to join up with the one-day party on Wednesday.

He is however unlikely to arrive in time to be in contention for Wednesday's third ODI in Kandy.

The Kent man's latest international call-up follows an extraordinary summer which culminated in the 32-year-old being named as the PCA’s players' player of the year.

He had already been named the PCA’s Most Valuable Player for 2018 and finished the season top of the Royal London One Day Cup and Vitality Blast player rankings.

Denly scored 492 runs at an average of 70.28 in the one-day cup and also claimed 14 wickets with his legspin which also brought him 20 victims in the Vitality Blast T20 competition.

Denly first earned international recognition in 2009 and has played nine ODIs and five T20s for England.

His last ODI appearance was in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final defeat against Australia at Centurion in 2009 when he made 36 opening the innings.