Tuesday 21 October 2014 12:56, UK
Four of England's most promising U21 netballers have been called up to join the national squad ahead of the forthcoming Test series.
Four of England's most promising U21 netballers have been called up to join the national squad in camp ahead of the forthcoming Co-operative International Netball Test series between England and Malawi.
Celtic Dragons' Lindsay Keable, Mavericks Monique Wood and TeamBath's Serena Guthrie and Kirsty Delves have been included in the training camp following promising performances for England at the recent Netball Europe Open championships and in the Co-operative Netball Superleague. They will all be considered for a place in England's match squad to contest the Test series during trials over the next two days.
"With five of our World Championships squad now taking part in the ANZ Championships in Australia and New Zealand, the opportunity exists for some new faces to compete for selection into the national squad," said England Netball's Director of Netball Nigel Holl.
"The four athletes selected for this opportunity have all shown that they are ready to step up to the Open squad level with some great performances in recent weeks.
"Malawi's skills and determination mean they should not be underestimated, and I know that all of the players concerned will want to take the opportunity to impress new national coach Sue Hawkins and the selectors in the next two days."
The England squad to take part in the Co-operative International Netball Test Series is expected to be announced at the weekend.
Meanwhile, after arriving at Heathrow Airport to some unexpected snowy conditions earlier this week, Malawi's netball Queens are now settled in their pre-series training camp in Scotland and had an easy win over Scotland's U21s in a practice match on Wednesday night before playing Scotland at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow on Friday.
The Co-operative International Netball Test series starts at the Sheffield Hallam Arena on Monday evening (14 April 2008) before moving to the Coventry Sky Dome (16 April 2008) and ending at Wembley Arena in London on Friday, 18 April 2008.
England's netballers are currently ranked third in the world, while Malawi, ranked fifth, are the reigning African champions. The Malawi Queens are only the second sports team ever to tour England from Malawi, after their football squad visited in the 1970s.
