England pick uncapped Emily Arlott in squad for India Test

The 23-year-old seamer has played county cricket for Worcestershire since making her debut as a 15-year-old in 2013 and last year was one of five Central Sparks players handed a full-time, professional contract as a domestic cricketer

Emily Arlott has been named in an England squad for the first time as part of the 17-strong party picked to take on India in a one-off Test next week.

The 23-year-old seamer has played county cricket for Worcestershire since making her debut as a 15-year-old in 2013 and last year was one of five Central Sparks players handed a full-time, professional contract as a domestic cricketer.

Arlott, who claimed a hat-trick at the weekend in handing Southern Vipers their first-ever defeat in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, has taken eight wickets so far in this season’s competition. She is one of several seam options available to captain Heather Knight and head coach Lisa Keightley, with Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Georgia Elwiss, Tash Farrant, Nat Sciver and Anya Shrubsole also included in a group that is expected to be trimmed ahead of the game itself, allowing those left out to return to regional duty.

How do you select a Test team after a two-year gap?

The inclusion of Farrant comes on the back of her international recall over the winter for England’s tour of New Zealand, having lost her central contract in 2019. It also means that the squad features two non-England contracted players – a clear early shift on the back of the restructure of the domestic system and the move to award full-time deals to 41 players.

Farrant is one of several players who could make their Test bow at Bristol on June 16, along with Arlott, Freya Davies, Sarah Glenn, Mady Villiers and Sophia Dunkley, who is included a day after it was revealed that she has been handed a central contract for the first time. Like Arlott, Dunkley has enjoyed a flying start to the season, racking up 196 runs in three innings for South East Stars.

^{England's last Test ended in a draw in 2019 against Australia}

England head coach Keightley said: “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.”

📺ARLOTT HATRICK!

Relive the magnificent three balls that gave Arlott her hatrick.... #SparksWillFly💥 pic.twitter.com/VF3wrLPEcB

— Central Sparks (@CentralSparks) June 5, 2021

England have been involved in just five Tests since Knight’s century against Australia helped to regain the Ashes in 2013, and she has been present in all of them. Likewise, Sarah Taylor and Anya Shrubsole, though Taylor has since retired from the international game. Sciver – Knight’s new vice-captain – and Brunt have played in the last four, Georgia Elwiss and Laura Marsh – also now retired – in the last three. In 2014, the six-wicket defeat by India – when these two sides last met in the longest format – was the scene of Sonia Odedra’s solitary international cap.

Of England’s 17 centrally contracted players, only Katie George – who is injured – and Danni Wyatt, who has never played a Test and is viewed as a white-ball specialist, are not in Test contention.

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

^{Image courtesy of Laura Malkin}