Youthful England aiming to beat Sunshine Girls

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Sue Hawkins, head coach of the England netball team, said despite the unavailability of two of their most experienced defenders - Sonia McKloma and Geva Mentor - for their three-Test Supreme Ventures Sunshine Series against Jamaica, she is quite confident that her team can win the series.

The first match of the series will be played on Tuesday, April 26; the second on Thursday, April 28, and the final match is set for Saturday, April 30.

All matches will be played at the National Indoor Sports Complex next week.

"We are very confident because we have been working well together and have a good hit out before the World Championships, and so this is the last one," said Hawkins in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, upon her team's arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport.

"Our objectives are to have a great competition against the Jamaica team and, of course, everyone wants to go away with a win, and we will be looking for a win," Hawkins said.

Last series

McKloma and Mentor, who played against the Sunshine Girls in the last series here which ended 1-1, are currently plying their trade in the ANZ Netball Championships in Australia and New Zealand.

"We have a young squad coming out here because we have two of our best defenders playing in the ANZ Championships. But we have got youth and that is what we are going to expose to our players in this series, and so it should be an interesting series," said Hawkins, whose team is ranked one place above the Sunshine Girls at number three in the world rankings.

She added: "Our mid-court is very strong and our shooting area is also very strong and our defence is a bit young and inexperienced for this tournament, but for the World Championships we will be at full strength."

England full squad: Karen Atkinson (captain), Pamela Cookey (vice-captain), Layla Guscoth, Louisa Brownfield, Jade Clarke, Rachel Dunn, Tamsin Greenway, Joanne Harten, Eboni Beckford-Chambers, Lindsay Keable, Sasha Corbin, Camilla Buchanan, Stacey Francis, Serena Guthrie, Margaret Palmer.