Karl Power was the guy who somehow always got in the picture. Most audaciously, Power dressed in full Manchester United kit and edged into their team photograph before a Champions League quarter-final.

Joe Denly has rather taken on the air of Power: the England cricketer who, somehow, always gets in the team picture.

In the third ODI against Pakistan – just his second ODI in a decade – Denly seemed to invent a new position: as a non-batting, non-bowling No 7. His entire day’s work amounted to six balls, three of them full tosses. As overs for nine runs go, it was not a very good one.

When he did not get another over, many assumed that England had seen enough. The impression hardened when Denly was left at No 7 as England cruised to their victory target. Yet he remained with the team while Liam Dawson, his possible replacement in the World Cup squad, was not called up.

With both Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in the team on Friday, England would ordinarily have had no cause to throw the ball to Denly until midway through the innings, if at all. This time, Denly was handed the ball in the ninth over: a decision that betrayed this game’s status as less a normal one-day international than a World Cup trial. In 155 previous 50-over matches over a 15-year professional career, Denly had only ever bowled six overs in the first 10 overs before; none of those were in England. So, when Jos Buttler tossed the ball to him, with the suspended Eoin Morgan looking on, the decision was much less about how to get England’s first wicket than how to finalise the World Cup squad. The normal terms of engagement were abandoned to see whether Denly was worth including in England’s 15 on Tuesday.