Cricket Buzz: Jhulan Goswami back for T20s after injury lay-off

Veteran seamer Jhulan Goswami was named in the Indian women's team for the T20 tri-series involving Australia and England with Harmanpreet Kaur back as the leader.

The tri-series will be played between March 22-31.

Taniya Bhatia will keep the wickets just like she had done during the South Africa T20s while there aren't too many changes in the team. Smriti Mandhana will be Harmanpreet's deputy. Veteran Rumeli Dhar has also retained her place in the squad after a decent show against the Proteas women.

India Women's T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rumeli Dhar, Mona Meshram.

March 22: India vs Australia

March 23: Australia vs England

March 25: India vs England

March 26: India vs Australia

March 28: Australia vs England

March 29: India vs England

March 31: Final

All matches will be held at the CCI, Mumbai.

Injured Santner out for up to nine months

New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner will miss their Test series against England later this month to have knee surgery that will keep him out of action for up to nine months, the team said on Wednesday.

Santner suffered discomfort during the limited overs matches against England and had a scan, which revealed a bone defect. Further scans showed the injury had deteriorated and needed surgery that would keep him out for between six and nine months.

"On a personal level everyone feels for Mitchell," New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said in a statement.

"He's a popular guy in the changing room and he's well respected for the work he puts in for the side.

"Mitchell is a key player in all three formats for us, so we'll certainly miss him in the upcoming series.

"It's important though that he gets this fixed and we have him back for what is a big next 18 months for us."

Leg-spinner Todd Astle has been brought in as a replacement for the Test series, which starts on March 22 in Auckland with New Zealand's first day-night Test.

"Having another spin bowling all-rounder in Todd is of real benefit for us and he'll be looking forward to his opportunity," New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said.

"Being involved in the first day-night Test in New Zealand is really exciting and there's always something special about playing England.

"They have match winners throughout their squad so we expect a challenging series."

Regular Test wicketkeeper BJ Watling has also returned to the side after recovering from a hip injury.

Watling had played several games for his first class side as a batsman only as he slowly worked his way back to fitness.

Tom Blundell, who replaced Watling and scored a century on debut against West Indies last December, has dropped out of the squad.

"BJ is a proven performer at Test level for us and brings a lot to the group both on and off the field," Larsen added.

"We've monitored BJ's progress over the past few months and it's great to see him back with the gloves for Northern Districts.

"Tom Blundell did a great job in BJ's absence and we'll keep working with him going forward."

New Zealand Test squad: Kane Williamson (captain), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Jeet Raval, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling.

Melbourne Cricket Ground to ban parking over security fears

Australia's largest stadium, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, will ban parking during major events to prevent vehicle attacks on pedestrians that have rocked major cities around the world.

The 100,000-capacity venue banned parking during the opening days of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and England's cricket teams in December and will have similar restrictions for marquee events throughout the year, the Melbourne Cricket Club said on Tuesday.

"Ongoing events both around the world and closer to home clearly demonstrate that we need to minimise the risk of interactions between vehicles and pedestrians, especially in crowded places such as outside the MCG," MCC CEO Stuart Fox said in a statement.

Bans will be implemented for the Australian Football League season-opener between champions Richmond and Carlton next week and other blockbuster sporting events in coming months.

For most other events, organisers would set an 80-metre "exclusion zone" between vehicles and the stadium which would reduce parking to two-thirds of its normal capacity.

Islamist militants have used vehicles to attack people several times in Europe and the United States over the past couple of years.

Australia's second largest city suffered two vehicle attacks last year but police said they were not terror-related.

An SUV drove into a crowd of pedestrians in central Melbourne in December, injuring more than 20 people. An 83-year-old man died of his injuries from the rampage.

In Jan. 2017, six people were killed in Melbourne's central business district when a man used his vehicle to mow them down.

Following the January incident, authorities installed 140 concrete bollards in the city centre.