Jamaica coach Francis optimistic netballers will rebound in upcoming series

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Head coach of Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, Connie Francis, is very confident her side will rebound from their disastrous tour of Australia and New Zealand, to beat number three-ranked England in the two-Test National Commercial Bank Sunshine Series next week, at the National Indoor Sports Complex.

The Jamaicans, who ranked fourth in the world, were whitewashed 3-0 and 2-0 by number-one ranked Australia and number-two ranked New Zealand in respective matchups over the past two weeks.

"I am expecting a full-strength team for the England series and once we field a strong team against the English I am expecting us to win it," said Francis in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, following the team's arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport.

"Captain Simone Forbes, Althea Byfield and Kasey Evering who were not part of this tour will be available to face England and this will definitely make us much stronger going into the series," she said.

"However, I think that this series is going to be tough because we only have about three training sessions to bring in at least five or six fresh legs to blend in with the others," Francis said.

She added that the younger players who toured Down Under would have learnt their lesson, as they have proven themselves in certain aspects of the game and should play a major role in this series.

"I believe if we go with what we plan to do with all our tactical plays then we should bounce back quite easily. But it will be left up to how well these players blend in with the other players who are coming in," Francis said.

The first Test match of the Sunshine Series will be played next week Wednesday, September 1, followed by the second clash two days later.

Reflecting on the tour of Down Under, Francis said it was very tough, especially for most of the players making their senior team debut.

"It was a difficult tour, especially having so many young girls in this squad and this is the first time that they have gotten this opportunity to play for an extended period against the world's best teams," said Francis.

She added: "In the sense of where Australia and New Zealand stand, I think that they are in good stead because they were just coming off the ANZ Championships and they were in a match mood unlike us who were coming out of practice mood with such young charges.

"It was a learning experience and I am happy that I had this opportunity to give my young players a lot of playing time on the court," Francis said.

"I think that the future looks good because I think that Ann-Kay Griffith and Malysha Kelly really did well for us and they will be tough players to be reckoned with in the near future," said Francis, who is also a former national captain.