Uncapped Hemalatha called up for England ODIs

Uncapped 23-year-old Tamil Nadu allrounder Dayalan Hemalatha has been called up to the India women squad to face England women in a three-match ODI series at home. Middle-order batsman Devika Vaidya, who last played for India in May last year, was recalled to the squad of 15. Jhulan Goswami, who missed India's last ODI assignment - a three-match series against Australia due to a heel injury - reclaimed her place, and left-arm spinners Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Ekta Bisht also recovered from their injuries to return to the squad.

India women squad
ODIs: Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-capt), Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Dayalan Hemalatha, Veda Krishnamurthy, Devika Vaidya, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Sushma Verma (wk), Rajeshwari Gayakwad

IN: Dayalan Hemalatha, Devika Vaidya, Jhulan Goswami

OUT: Punam Raut, Mona Meshram, Sukanya Parida

Bisht had injured her left index finger during a caught-and-bowled attempt in the third ODI against Australia and was replaced by Gayakwad for the ongoing tri-series. But later Gayakwad injured herself in a training session in Mumbai last week and was ruled out of the series too, to be replaced by Radha Yadav.

These returns meant there was no room for Punam Raut, Mona Meshram and Sukanya Parida, who were all in the ODI squad to face Australia in Vadodara.

Hemalatha, who bowls offspin and bats right-handed, played four matches for India A recently - two T20s against England before the ongoing tri-series and two one-dayers against Australia in early March.

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Vaidya, a 20-year old from Maharashtra, was part of the title-winning Indian team in the World Cup Qualifier that took place early last year in Sri Lanka. She struck 111 runs in four innings - that included a match-winning 89 in the tournament opener against the hosts - and took five wickets in six matches.

Among the exclusions, Raut once again found herself out of favour after being dropped for the final ODI against Australia. After making scores of 37 and 27 in the first two matches, Raut's place was taken by Jemimah Rodrigues, the 17-year old batsman, who is fast becoming a sensation. Meshram, who also last played in the same Australia series, has been plagued by inconsistency since impressing at the World Cup Qualifier.

The selectors also made a slew of changes to the 14-member A squad that will face off against England in a warm-up game in Nagpur. Deepti Sharma will lead the team, taking over from Meghna Singh, who captained them for the T20 warm-ups against England.



The England ODIs will present an opportunity for India to resurrect what has been a middling home season. Though they had a hugely successful tour of South Africa, where they clinched both the T20 and one-day series, India are now on a six-match losing streak at home. After being whitewashed in the ODI series by Australia, they have now lost all their matches in the ongoing T20 tri-series so far, that leaves them without a spot in the final.

The first ODI of the week-long series takes place on April 6 and all the matches will be played in Nagpur.

India A squad: Deepti Sharma (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Devika Vaidya, Dayalan Hemalatha, Priya Punia, Anuja Patil, Mona Meshram, Sukanya Parida, Kavita Patil, Shanti Kumari, Tanushree Sarkar, Nuzhat Parween (wk), Radha Yadav, TP Kanwar

Rambukwella back playing cricket after arrest

Ramith Rambukwella is back playing domestic cricket after being released on bail on Saturday, with SLC yet to make a decision on what disciplinary measures - if any - will be imposed.

Arrested on Friday night for assault and drunk driving, Rambukwella has since had the assault charges dropped, having come to a settlement with the complainants. The drunk driving charge remains however; he is due in court on Tuesday.

Although initially an SLC official told ESPNcricinfo that the board had only found out about the incident "through the media" and that it had "not had any official reports of the incident", Rambukwella's behaviour is set to be discussed at a manager's committee meeting on Tuesday. As such his contract with SLC may be under review. His ongoing participation in domestic cricket - he played a one-day match for Tamil Union on Monday - is less likely to be affected, but may also be under scrutiny.

Of particular concern to the board will be Rambukwella's history of disciplinary issues. He was arrested in 2016 under another drunk driving charge after he crashed his car into a wall. In 2013, he had also caused mild panic onboard a flight, when he attempted to open a cabin door at 35,000 feet while returning from a tour with the Sri Lanka A side.

A tall offspinning allrounder, Rambukwella played two T20 internationals for Sri Lanka, the most recent of which was in July 2016.

SA talent Vasconcelos signs for Northants

Warning bells will be ringing once more in South Africa after Northamptonshire signed Ricardo Vasconcelos as a wicketkeeper batsman.

While the 20-year-old was born in Johannesburg and has represented Boland and South Africa Under-19s, he will not be considered an overseas player as he has a Portuguese passport. It is understood that he had been of interest to other counties.

He will arrive ahead of the start of the Championship season and offers reinforcement for a squad that lost wicketkeeper David Murphy at the end of last season - Murphy has decided to concentrate on a career in law - and is likely to be without Ben Duckett for the first few weeks of the season as he recovers from surgery on an injured finger. It may also be relevant that Northants could face quite a fight to retain the services of Duckett beyond the 2018 season.

Northants will also be without Rory Kleinveldt, the former South Africa seamer who has been their overseas player since 2015, for the start of the season, though they expect him to return ahead of the Royal London Cup campaign.

While the signing of Vasconcelos could reignite talk about the success (or otherwise) of county development systems, there may be more disquiet in South Africa. With several players on the fringes of selection for the national side having already chosen a future in county cricket - notably Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and Simon Harmer, with Morne Morkel expected to follow shortly - there will be concern that a young man good enough to represent a CSA Invitational XI as recently as December has committed himself to England for the foreseeable future. He has been obliged to renounce his right to represent South Africa as part of the deal, though such actions are reversible.

The statistics from Vasconcelos' early career are compelling. While South African domestic cricket is not as strong as it once was, the fact that he has scored two centuries and three half-centuries in his first 10 first-class games suggests he is a highly promising cricketer.

"I am very excited to have the opportunity to represent Northants, it is a massive opportunity that I hope to grab with both hands," Vasconcelos said. "I am looking forward to work with and learn from some of the more experienced players so that I can accelerate my growth as a player as quickly as possible. I am also eager to try and contribute as much as I can to the team's success."

Northamptonshire's head coach, David Ripley, added: "He's a young, hungry cricketer who's able to provide wicket-keeper cover and push the guys for batting spots. It's great to have him on board."

England captain Brook dropped for disciplinary reasons

Harry Brook, the England U19 captain, was dropped for the final game of their ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup campaign after breaking a team rule.

An ICC media release initially confirmed that England had reported his omission was for "a disciplinary matter, but are yet to disclose the reason". Vice-captain Will Jacks was put in charge for England's seventh-place playoff against New Zealand in Queenstown.

England have privately intimated that Brook's single-match suspension arose from a relatively minor indiscretion and did not involve excessive drinking.

Speaking after England's victory over New Zealand in the seventh-place play-off, Under-19s coach Jon Lewis said: "Harry missed the match because he broke a team rule, so we decided to leave him out and deal with it internally. We'll let you know if anything happens after that.

"The team exists and the rules apply to everyone so the captain breaks the rule and he missed the game. One thing I would like to stress about this group of people is that they've been extremely well behaved here in New Zealand. They're a really good group of people. We take a lot of pride in our duty of care for the Under-19s as a support staff and we do put rules in place. If rules are broken then disciplinary action sometimes needs to be taken."

Brook, who broke into Yorkshire's 1st XI on several occasions last season, had enjoyed an excellent tournament with the bat, scoring 239 runs including two half-centuries and a century, averaging 119.5, although he made a duck in England's Super League quarter-final defeat - one of eight victims for Australia's long-haired legspinner Lloyd Pope as he shot to prominence in spectacular fashion. Defeat continued England's abysmal record in Under-19 tournaments.

The ECB had sought to impose a more disciplined atmosphere on the England Under-19 set-up in recent years, irrespective of wider concerns, partly because of a conclusion that England age-group sides matured less quickly, partly because of a legal duty of care with several players in the squad not yet 18. Players are expected to gain permission and sign-out for an evening away from the team hotel. They must stay in groups, observe an 11pm curfew, limit alcohol intake and avoid dangerous outdoor pursuits.

Nevertheless, Brook's omission on disciplinary grounds, however technical, continues a problematic winter for England. Their Ashes campaign, which ended in a 4-0 defeat against Australia was tarnished by off-the-field allegations about behaviour.



In the febrile atmosphere which originated from a police investigation into Ben Stokes' conduct outside a Bristol nightclub in September (Stokes was later charged with affray), England's behaviour in Australia has been under constant scrutiny.

Jonny Bairstow was widely ridiculed for a headbutt greeting to Australia's batsman Cameron Bancroft in a Perth nightclub at the start of the tour and, in the same bar, the England Lions batsman, Ben Duckett, was suspended from all remaining matches on the tour, fined the "maximum allowable amount" and given a final written warning about his conduct after pouring a drink over James Anderson.

Just as they restored equilibrium with a triumphant 4-1 win in the one-day series, England are again creating interest for the wrong reasons.

Root withdrawn from England T20s as IPL looms

Joe Root has been withdrawn from England's T20 squad to play in the inaugural tri-series against Australia and New Zealand next month, as he prepares to make his IPL bow after being entered in the auction that takes place in Bangalore on January 27 and 28.

Root, who had initially declined the opportunity to sit out the tournament after a draining winter of international cricket, including captaining England to a 4-0 defeat in the Ashes, will instead return home for a break before resuming his place in the squad for the ODI series against New Zealand that gets underway on February 25.

Root, who is an automatic pick for England across all three formats, admitted his unease at missing out on international duty, especially given that his stated intention is to make his first foray into the IPL in April and May, at a time when he could instead be taking a break.

The financial allure of the IPL is a significant factor in Root's choice. However, with England fully focussed on the 2019 World Cup, the opportunity for the team's integral members to broaden their experience by taking part in the world's foremost T20 league is now considered a vital part of their development, and Root's decision was made in consultation with the head coach, Trevor Bayliss.

"I hate missing games of cricket for England," Root said. "It is something that doesn't really sit well with me either. It was a long, hard decision that me and Trevor had to come to.

"You look at the amount of cricket that we have got coming up and the opportunity that the IPL brings and you almost have to look at it as more of an investment for my game and for all the England team moving forward.

"If being involved in that block of cricket, with everything that tournament brings, is going to add more to my game for the next four or five years then missing a few games here might be worthwhile."

Root has entered the IPL auction at the highest reserve price of £170,000, and could be one of a raft of prominent England players to be picked up by franchises for the first time this year.

However, he has never before played in an overseas league, and due to his England commitments, he has featured in just five T20 Blast matches since 2012. Part of his reasoning for wanting to remain a part of the England T20 squad was that he feared the shortest form of the game was evolving without him, but he admitted the monetary side of the IPL is a significant draw too.

"Of course, there is a money side to it, there is no point lying about it," he said. "That is obviously a benefit of playing in the IPL but that is not why I went into the auction. I really believe playing a block of Twenty20 cricket with that scrutiny, being under pressure for long periods of time against the world's players in that format would be a great opportunity to develop and learn my white-ball game.

"With the two major tournaments in white-ball cricket around the corner that is what going there is all about, to gain experience in the short form and work with other players around the world who have had a huge amount of exposure to Twenty20 cricket, and see some different coaches."

Stokes remains IPL drawcard, but questions abound

The news that Ben Stokes has been charged with affray, in the wake of his arrest in Bristol in September, has raised more questions than answers ahead of the IPL auction which takes place in Bengaluru on January 27-28, with the eight franchises seeking urgent clarity about his availability for this year's tournament.

Stokes made a box-office debut in the IPL last year, finishing as the Most Valuable Player after helping Rising Pune Supergiants to the final. Pune had fiercely bid for Stokes, paying him a record INR 14.5 crore (approx. US $2.16 million in 2017) and the Durham and England allrounder proved he was well worth the big money with consistent performances.

However, in the wake of the CPS verdict, there are no immediate guarantees that he will be back for a second season. "We need a level of certainty in case he is not available after he is bought at the auction," an owner of a franchise that has finished IPL runner-up more than once told ESPNcricinfo. "We need to know the degree of control IPL will have on his availability.

"We will seek to understand what happens now: what is the process? What will be happen if there is one eventuality or another?"

Assuming he is provided with a no-objection certificate (NOC) to play in the IPL - and Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, has already indicated that the board will not stand in his way - Stokes will be one of the 36 top players who will kick off the auction, having listed his base price at the maximum of INR 2 crore (USD 315,000). He is understood to be a target for most of the eight franchises, which are busy doing mock auction exercises with less than a fortnight to go until the event.

Clarity is also sought for a scenario in which Stokes is bought at the auction, but later has to withdraw from the tournament due to the trial. Currently, the IPL only allows replacements if a player is ruled out through injury, whereupon that replacement is paid on a pro-rata basis.

"If he is not available, will there be a replacement and what would it mean for the franchise?" said the owner. "What would availability mean in this case because there are extraneous circumstances?"


Ben Stokes is off to celebrate after dismissing Kane Williamson BCCI
The ECB is expected to convene in the next 48 hours to consider Stokes' England availability while sub judice. At present, there is no date fixed for the trial, which the authorities have already indicated could last for six months or more.

"We have to see what stance the ECB takes," a director from another prominent franchise said. "The charge has just come out, so it is too early to decide, but we are definitely bothered about the outcome of the trial.

"We need see the implications. They have said clearly it might go for six months. So assuming the trial extends beyond the IPL, as it is expected to, then there is a lot of uncertainty. Also you never know his mental state, you can't just come and play with freedom if the trial is in the backdrop."


Nevertheless, Stokes' aura has not diminished despite his absence from top-level cricket in the past three months, with few players capable of matching his world-class allround attributes. According to a chief executive officer at one of the franchises, which has a strong purse going into the auction, several teams are expected to "go all out" to secure his services, and it would not be a surprise if the player ended up as the most expensive buy for the second year running.

"The only question we want to know is about whether he is available full time or not," said the official.

However, some caveats remain for a player who will have been sidelined for the best part of six months by the time the 2018 IPL gets underway on April 4.

"You look for certainty on the cricketing front," the franchise owner said. "You will also look at what does it mean for his character. It will require now greater understanding of Ben Stokes as a team player. As a franchise we always look for players who will put the team before himself. Will he take this as a challenge and come out all guns blazing or will it affect him in any other way?"

Olivier, Ngidi added to South Africa squad for second Test

South Africa have added the fast bowling duo of Duanne Olivier and uncapped 21-year-old Lungi Ngidi to their squad for the second Test against India later this week. The changes came into place after Dale Steyn picked up a heel injury in the Cape Town Test that ruled him out of the series.

Olivier has played five Tests - all of them in 2017 - and Ngidi made his international debut in a T20I against Sri Lanka last year but is yet to play the other two formats at the international stage.

Olivier last played Tests in September-October against Bangladesh when he took five wickets in four innings before representing Knights in T20 and one-day cricket. He had made his Test debut against Sri Lanka a year ago in Johannesburg where he took five wickets in the match but has not been able to establish himself as a regular member of the side against strong competition. He also struggled with a knee injury this season, which kept him out of some domestic games.

Ngidi, on the other hand, has played three T20Is in which he has collected six wickets with an impressive economy rate of 5.50. He played all those matches against Sri Lanka last year in January, and took 4 for 19 in Johannesburg. He was part of the ODI squad but withdrew with an abdominal muscle injury. He was then part of the South African A side that toured England where he suffered a back injury. It took Ngidi four months to recover and he has only played one first-class match since comeback and took nine wickets for 83 in the game, signaling his readiness for more game-time.

Since then he has featured in domestic matches for Titans that featured his best T20 figures of 4 for 14 against Warriors in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge.

Both Olivier and Ngidi are currently playing in the domestic one-day cup and will compete with allrounders Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo for one spot in the final XI, with conditions on the Highveld set to suit an attack of four seamers. However, with India's bowlers challenging South Africa, they may opt to include a seventh specialist batsman in the XI and all of Olivier, Ngidi, Morris or Phehlukwayo could be benched.

The second Test starts on January 13 in Centurion.

Squad for second Test: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wk), AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi