England have this afternoon, named their final squad of twelve players to compete at the Netball World Cup in Sydney which takes place between 7th–16th August this summer.
Head Coach Tracey Neville and the national selectors have chosen a team that is brimming with experience and versatility. They have also revealed who will be leading the team when the tournament gets underway.
Source: England Netball
England coach Tracey Neville gives instructions
Reflecting on the selection, Neville said “The training response from this group of athletes over the last few weeks has been somewhat incredible and has definitely made this selection task very difficult.”
“The coaches feel that the selected squad has the experience, talent, consistency and determination to fulfil the rigorous schedule of the World Cup and put the performance out on court that is worthy of an England team.”
Captaining the side will be 2014 World Player of the Year, Geva Mentor (pictured above). The evergreen defender will be competing in her fourth World Cup having amassed a phenomenal 105 caps.
Another centurion will be assisting Mentor in Australia as Pamela Cookey has been named vice-captain. Having made her debut in 2004, the experienced shooter will be looking to make amends after missing last year’s Commonwealth Games due to injury.
Several of the selected squad have been plying their trade in the ANZ Championship this season and have won plaudits for their displays including Eboni Beckford-Chambers, Jade Clarke and Jo Harten.
They are joined by Serena Guthrie who, following a fabulous breakthrough season in New Zealand for SKYCITY Mystics, was named the Best New Talent in the ANZ Championship.
The Netball Superleague is also well represented in the squad with a host of players rewarded for their excellent domestic form.
In the attacking circle, Rachel Dunn and Helen Housby have been selected. Linking up with their franchise colleagues in the mid-court will be Tamsin Greenway and Sara Bayman.
Taking the remaining places in defence will be Stacey Francis and the recently recalled Sonia Mkoloma.
England will be taking four training partners to Sydney, they are Ama Agbeze, Kadeen Corbin, Sasha Corbin and Natalie Haythornthwaite. These players and the remainder of the long squad are listed as reserves for the Netball World Cup.
The England squad selected for the 2015 Netball World Cup is as follows
Geva Mentor (c), Pamela Cookey (v-c), Sara Bayman, Eboni Beckford-Chambers, Jade Clarke, Rachel Dunn, Stacey Francis, Tamsin Greenway, Serena Guthrie, Jo Harten, Helen Housby, Sonia Mkoloma
Fans can watch every England match of the Netball World Cup exclusively live on Sky Sports, starting with England’s opening match of the tournament against Scotland on 7th August.
