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Warm welcome for the Brits

Published:Friday | September 3, 2010 | 12:00 AM
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British High Commissioner Howard Drake (left) raps with (from second left) Belinda Williams of the National Commercial Bank; Mike Fennell, Commonwealth Games chairman and Marva Bernard, Jamaica Netball Association president. - photos by Winston Sill / Freelance Photographer
It's all smiles before the matches begin. Sharing the camera time are (from left) Sunshine Girls captain Simone Forbes, England centre, Karen Atkinson, NCB's Belinda Williams, England coach Maggie Jackson and England captain Sonia Mkoloma.
English quartet (from left) Karen Atkinson, Pamela Cookey, Jade Clarke and Sara Bayman pose for a picture.
British High Commissioner Howard Drake (second right) leads the cheers to a good series with (from left) Marva Bernard, Warren Newby, Belinda Williams and Liz Bloor.
President of the International Federation of Netball Associations Molly Rhone (left) listens keenly to England coach Maggie Jackson (right) while team manager Liz Bloor looks on.
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Before they stepped onto centre court on Wednesday (and again tonight), the visiting England netball team got a warm welcome from British High Commissioner Howard Drake and wife Gill on Tuesday.

Among the guests at the reception were their opponents, Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, and the athletic belles on both teams were still keeping an eye on the matches despite the pleasantries. But it was a generally jovial mood, and High Commissioner Drake kept it that way, delivering some English-style zingers, as he confessed he knew very little about netball, joking "this is a house of sport lovers, it's just that netball isn't one of them." He also declared "may the best team win" before quipping that that would be England.

Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) president Marva Bernard, despite a few cracks of her own (like promising the England team would get more than just hospitality), openly admitted the JNA was looking for an airline to sponsor a more frequent test series between the countries. She asked for a 'virgin' to perhaps come forward and take the place of Air Jamaica. Senator Warren Newby, representing Sports Minister Olivia Grange, had his own jokes, as he 'encouraged' the English to enjoy Jamaican white rum (preferably just before the games).

Among the guests were former Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall and Lady Hall, Graham Glover, Mike and Peggy Fennell, Justin Felice, Ian Andrews, Chris Vendryes, Juliet Wright, Sydian Brissett and Mark Martin.