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."