London Spirit sign Richa Ghosh as replacement for Georgia Redmayne

Richa Ghosh, the 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, has become the third Indian player to sign a contract in the Hundred for 2023, replacing the injured Georgia Redmayne at London Spirit.

Ghosh will join Smriti Mandhana (Southern Brave) and Harmanpreet Kaur (Trent Rockets) in the competition next month, who were retained from last year's squad and signed in March's draft, respectively.

Active male Indian players are not permitted to play in overseas short-form leagues by the BCCI but female players have regularly appeared in the Hundred and the Women's Big Bash League, among others.

Ghosh's salary in the Hundred is understood to be £12,500 (INR 13 lakh approx.), which pales in comparison to the INR 1.9 crore (£180,000 approx.) that she was paid by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural Women's Premier League earlier this year.

But the tournament will provide her with an opportunity to further her development as a player, having recently missed out on selection for India's tour to Bangladesh. Her captain at Spirit will be Heather Knight, while other team-mates will include Grace Harris, Amelia Kerr and Sarah Glenn.

Ghosh's replacement deal was announced by the ECB on Thursday morning along with a number of other signings in the women's competition, with Spirit also signing the recent England Test debutant Lauren Filer in the open-market process that followed March's draft.

Emily Windsor, who hit the winning runs in the 2022 final for Oval Invincibles, has moved to Welsh Fire for this summer while Trent Rockets have signed the former England middle-order batter Fran Wilson.

ESPNcricinfo revealed last week the results of the domestic wildcard draft, which have now been confirmed by the ECB, along with replacement contracts for Matthew Short (replacing Michael Bracewell at Northern Superchargers) and Usama Mir (replacing Wanindu Hasaranga at Manchester Originals).

Spirit have also found short-notice replacements for Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh, after they were pulled out of the tournament by Cricket Australia. Matthew Wade, the Australian wicketkeeper-batter, and New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell will come in instead.

Adam Zampa will also return to the Hundred in the second half of the season, replacing Sunil Narine at Oval Invincibles when Narine leaves for the Caribbean Premier League after August 13.

Birmingham Phoenix: Davina Perrin, Abbey Freeborn, Charis Pavely
London Spirit: Richa Ghosh (replacing Georgia Redmayne), Lauren Filer, Chloe Hill, Alice Monaghan
Manchester Originals: Ami Campbell, Amara Carr, Mahika Gaur, Laura Jackson
Northern Superchargers: Georgie Boyce, Lucy Higham, Grace Ballinger, Grace Hall, Leah Dobson (replacing Phoebe Franklin)
Oval Invincibles: Sophia Smale, Beth Langston, Cordelia Griffith, Claudie Cooper, Lizzie Scott (replacing Tash Farrant)
Southern Brave: Kalea Moore, Seren Smale, Ellie Anderson, Mary Taylor
Trent Rockets: Jo Gardner, Fran Wilson, Nat Wraith, Cassidy McCarthy (replacing Emma Jones)
Welsh Fire: Emily Windsor, Ella McCaughan, Georgia Davis, Kate Coppack

London Spirit: Matthew Wade (replacing Glenn Maxwell), Daryl Mitchell (replacing Mitchell Marsh)
Manchester Originals: Usama Mir (replacing Wanindu Hasaranga)
Northern Superchargers: Matthew Short (replacing Michael Bracewell)
Oval Invincibles: Tom Lawes (replacing Saqib Mahmood), Adam Zampa (partially replacing Sunil Narine)