Meet the sexy new face of English ... hockey

The alluring shot could be an advert for perfume or shampoo.

Instead, 23-year-old Denise Marston-Smith is giving an image makeover to hockey - a game more traditionally associated with mud, cold and beefy thighs.

The England player, who won a Commonwealth Games silver medal in 1998 and took part in the Sydney Olympics, was chosen to promote the squad's £250,000 kit sponsorship deal.

It is hoped the pictures will also help the game shed its stuffy, jolly-hockey-sticks image.

Yesterday, the leisure and business management student, from Hotwells, Bristol, said: 'I was very pleased with the way the pictures came out.

'Most of the shots were straighter ones with me modelling clothes. But the last few reels we did we decided to be a bit more daring.

'They are very sexy but I thought they were tastefully done. It's a bit raunchier than most people would expect from a hockey team.'

Denise, who plays club hockey for Clifton Ladies and made her England debut in 1996, was an obvious choice for the photo shoot. Team-mates nicknamed her Dolly because of the 'dolly bird' outfits she wears off the field.

She spent a day modelling the new clothing range at photographer Andre Bieganski's Buckinghamshire studio.

The new kit deal also covers England's men's teams and will be worn for the first time at a championship in Korea in May.

Australian-based sportswear maker Kookaburra will also manufacture replica and off-pitch clothes as well as spin-off merchandise.

English Hockey marketing director Ian Thomas said: 'This is the biggest commercial deal English hockey has signed in a decade.

'Working with Kookaburra, we intend to grow the replica market for England Hockey products over the next three years.'