Advertisement

Tracey Neville has big World Cup calls to make with squad announcement due


Tracey Neville has an impressive hand to play at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool this summer but it will be the wildcards added to the England coach’s already impressive deck that will be the fascinating aspect at the squad unveiling on Thursday.

Most pundits expect the big five of Geva Mentor and Layla Guscoth in defence, Helen Housby and Jo Harten in goal and Serena Guthrie in the middle, as well as the midcourters Natalie Haythornthwaite, Jade Clarke and Chelsea Pitman and the defender Eboni Usoro-Brown to fill the first nine spots in the 12-strong team.

Related: Caitlin Bassett finds form at right time with Netball World Cup looming large

The 10th would, until a fortnight ago anyway, have belonged to the wing defence Beth Cobden, who was part of the Roses side who won Commonwealth gold last year, but will miss out after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Australia’s Super Netball league last month.

Cobden’s teammate at Adelaide, the Roses’ wing attack Pitman, is managing a calf injury, but played most of her side’s recent match and is still expected to get the call for the Cup in mid-July .

Haythornthwaite, who can play wing attack and goal attack, is yet to play a game this season for her Super Netball side, the NSW Swifts, after injuring her hamstring in a pre-season match. While she is not expected to play for the Swifts until June, she will most likely be given every chance to be fit for the Cup.

Mentor, Guscoth, Housby and Harten – who all ply their trade in Australian Super Netball – pick themselves on current form, as do Guthrie, Clarke and Usoro-Brown, who all performed well in the recently completed Superleague.

Sign up to The Recap, our weekly email of editors’ picks.

Ama Agbeze revealed this week she has been left out of the 12, although she is in the 20-strong long squad and could still theoretically get called up.

Agbeze, who has been the face of netball since that history-making gold which sparked a resurgence in the sport and won the Roses numerous accolades, missed January’s Quad Series with a knee problem. She also struggled with injuries and form for the Superleague side London Pulse this season. With Agbeze and Cobden sidelined, three spots remain.

In the goaling end, does Neville give the nod to 36-year-old Rachel Dunn? The veteran starred in the last game of the January Quad Series in London, shooting an impressive 24 from 25 in the Roses’ three-goal win over Australia and again delivered for the Wasps in Superleague. In London, the Australian defence had no answer for Dunn’s creativity, movement and accuracy from distance.

Former Rose Tamsin Greenway says Dunn “blew everyone away” with that Quad Series performance and believes her strong connection with Haythornthwaite will also work in her favour. Her age may play against her, although Mentor is only a few years younger at 34. “If you have a more experienced player, who is at the top of their game, why on earth would you not take them?” Greenway asks.

Related: Sara Bayman: ‘England’s gold will be seen as the pivotal moment for netball’

Superleague shooters George Fisher, who is 20, and 190cm Ella Clark, as well as Kadeen Corbin, would also be on Neville’s radar as back-up options for the formidable Housby and Harten partnership. If fit, Haythornthwaite could slot in as a shooter too.

In defence, Jodi Gibson is injured. That means most are looking to 21-year-old Wasp Francesca Williams, who can play both circle positions, as well as wing defence, as possible back-up for Mentor and Guscoth. Greenway says Sam Cook, who has 16 international caps and had an incredible season with the Severn Stars’, could be a roughie.

How Neville manages her midcourt will be vital too. With Haythornthwaite and Pitman managing injuries, does she look to take Sasha Corbin, Natalie Panagarry or even Iona Darroch, who all play centre and wing attack or maybe Gabriella Marshall, who plays centre and wing defence, in place of an extra circle defender?

“I am intrigued to see whether they still go defence heavy or whether they go hang on, we need to cover Nat, and look more at attackers,” Greenway says.

It will also be intriguing to see who picks up the captaincy baton with Agbeze, Guthrie, Harten and Mentor the most likely candidates. Whoever makes the final cut, they will be entering a pressure-cooker environment never seen in English netball before.

After beating the world’s No 1 side Australia, in Australia, in the Commonwealth final and again in London earlier this year – albeit that time without Caitlin Bassett, Gabi Simpson and Courtney Bruce – the Roses have a target on their back and English fans will demand success. It all comes down to how Neville plays her cards.