England name 17-member Test squad for clash against India Women; Emily Arlott receives maiden call-up

India Women will be up against England Women in an all-format tour including a lone Test match, three One Day Internationals, and as many T20 Internationals, scheduled to start from June 16 at the County Ground in Bristol. Ahead of the clash against India, England has announced a 17-member Test squad.

One of the highlights of the squad is 17-year-old pacer Emily Arlott receiving her maiden call-up to the England team. The development came after Arlott made headlines with her impressive performance for Central Sparks in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

On Saturday, Central Sparks were up against defending champions Southern Vipers. Emily ran through the opposition’s batting line-up as she picked four wickets in a single over. The stunning performance by the seamer came in front of England women’s team head coach Lisa Keightley, who was present in the stadium to enjoy the game. 

While the rest of the names were expected in the Test squad, England also retained bowler Natasha Farrant, who is one of the 41 players to received a full-time regional contract introduced into the women’s game in 2020. She returned to international cricket during the England tour of New Zealand and was impressive with the ball. 

While announcing the English squad, head coach Keightley asserted that India are a strong team and the English players are looking for a nail-biting affair. It is also learned that the 17-member squad will be trimmed further so that the non-selected players can participate in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy instead of warming the bench.

English squad to be trimmed 

“It’s been hard to pick a squad given the balance of needing cover in a COVID world while wanting to give players as much chance as possible to play cricket. We want players to have opportunities out in the middle so we’re looking to reduce our numbers slightly ahead of the Test to give the non-selected players that chance.

“I’m really excited by the summer ahead. We’ve been working really hard across the last 10 weeks, India are a strong side and it’s the beginning of a two-year journey for us that takes in two ICC World Cups, an Ashes, and the Commonwealth Games,” the head coach said as quoted by Sky Sports.

England Women squad: Heather Knight (cap), Emily Arlott, Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver (vice cap), Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield-Hill