Imagine having to work while your brother was helping England to one of their greatest Test match wins of all time.

That was the situation facing Sam Denly on Sunday when he took Hythe Town to Cray Wanderers for an FA Cup preliminary round tie.

Meanwhile brother Joe was at Headingley, where England were chasing a record 362 to beat Australia and keep the Ashes alive.

As the football was kicking off, the cricket was coming to a climax with Ben Stokes performing heroics with the bat.

Denly said: “I’m not going to lie, it was very hard. Normally it’s not an issue but with Joe being involved and keeping the Ashes alive...

“I wasn’t alone. Tony Russell, their manager, loves his cricket and we were chatting as it was going on.

“I had people behind me with it on their phones, all the people in the ground were in the bar watching it and you could hear screams and everyone going mental, so you knew something was happening.

“I had players on the pitch shouting over ‘what’s the cricket score?’ while the game was going on and I’ve never experienced that. I was pacing up and down because the football wasn’t going too well either so it was a surreal afternoon.”

Hythe were 3-0 down at half-time and ended up losing 5-0.

Denly said: “My focus was the football but as the game went on in the cricket, the emotions were turning.

“Suddenly everything goes quiet in the bar and you’re thinking ‘oh no, they’ve lost’ so it was really weird. I couldn’t wait for the cricket to be over because everyone had one eye on that.

“It was a bit strange trying to focus on the job at hand because it wasn’t going particularly well.

“It was one of those really strange afternoons I won’t forget for a long time. I’ll know where I was and what I was doing on the day of that win.”

The brothers met up on Monday to discuss England’s historic win.

“What a game,” said Denly. “It was pretty surreal even for Joe to be part of it. What an amazing result and Ben Stokes, what a legend.

“That game will be spoken about for evermore and it’s brilliant for Joe to have been part of that and contributed.

“He’s been doing all right and hasn’t really gone on so to get a substantial score that’s played a part in that, it’s massive for him personally to maybe secure his place in the side for the next Test.

“To be involved in a game like that, what a moment for him and one that all the family are really proud of.”

Hythe, who played Faversham last night (Tuesday), entertain Whitehawk on Saturday.

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