Fast bowlers Lauren Bell and Emily Arlott have been named alongside Emma Lamb in the squad for the one-off Test against South Africa next week in Taunton.
With neither Danni Wyatt nor Lauren Winfield-Hill in the squad, Lamb looks almost certain to make her Test debut opening the batting; while other potential debutants include Freya Davies, Alice Davidson-Richards, Lauren Bell and Emily Arlott.
With Katherine Brunt having announced her retirement from Tests, and Anya Shrubsole hers from all forms of international cricket, debuts for two of Davies, Bell and Arlott look likely, with a possible lineup of:
1. Lamb
2. Beaumont
3. Knight (c)
4. Sciver (vc)
5. Dunkley
6. Jones (wk)
7. Dean
8. Cross
9. Ecclestone
10. Davies
11. Bell
Issy Wong will also accompany the squad, officially as a “travelling reserve”, possibly due to her value as a net bowler due to her similarity to key South African threat Shabnim Ismail.
Full Squad
Heather Knight (Western Storm, cap)
Emily Arlott (Central Sparks)
Tammy Beaumont (Lightning)
Lauren Bell (Southern Vipers)
Kate Cross (Thunder)
Alice Davidson-Richards (South East Stars)
Freya Davies (South East Stars)
Charlie Dean (Southern Vipers)
Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars)
Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder)
Amy Jones (Central Sparks)
Emma Lamb (Thunder)
Nat Sciver (Northern Diamonds, vice captain)
Travelling Reserve
Issy Wong (Central Sparks)
CRICKETher 
Not sure why they put these ‘regional’ names in brackets after the players’ names as who is to say they were there last year or will be next?
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Plus one could argue that the type of contract they are on (type of England, Regional) is more significant than which franchise they just happen to be playing for this year. I’ve lost track of who has which type of contract.
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I think that’s a bit unfair. I could be wrong, but I don’t think any of the players listed have switched Regions (reference to “franchises” is certainly incorrect) since they were established. I’m not sure how else they could be listed, Counties would be inappropriate given that – rightly or wrongly – centrally contracted players never play for their notional counties these days.
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Tammy Beaumont has played for Southern Vipers (2019 domestic T20 competition) and Loughborough Lightning (2022 domestic T20 competition) so I think this counts as switching “regions” (in quotes in case anyone thinks they are not regions).
I agree that “franchise” is not an accurate term but neither is “region”. Central Sparks, for example, considers itself to be a “sporting centre of excellence for high-performance, professional cricketers” – I can understand why anyone would prefer to type just “franchise” or “region” instead !
[as an aside, The Hundreds teams are franchises]
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Further to the above, I think (though I’m not a lawyer) that, in the case of Central Sparks, Central Sparks is a brand of Warwickshire County Cricket Club Limited. Were this to be accurate, then the players would be contracted to (and therefore employed by) Warwickshire County Cricket Club Limited – the latter being a legal entity (in this case a Registered Company).
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