England Netball’s Vitality Roses ready for Uganda tests as World Cup preparations continue, live on Sky Sports | basketball news

Funmi Fadoju is one of England’s most exciting young talents and will be part of the Uganda series.

England’s ‘new look’ Vitality Roses team is set for three intriguing Tests against Uganda as the players try to make their mark ahead of next year’s Netball World Cup.

Jess Thirlby’s Vitality Roses left this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham without a medal, after a semi-final loss to Australia and a subsequent bronze medal play-off defeat at the hands of New Zealand.

After the competition, Thirlby announced that a review would “hopefully hone in on where we need to make incremental changes” and indicated that general changes weren’t necessarily on the cards.

Now England are at the start of a busy period with three Tests against Uganda, live on sky Sports, a tour to Australia to face the Diamonds and then a FAST5 Netball World Series competition.

Thirlby have named three squads for the upcoming matches, with the first three games against Uganda marking the start of England’s final international season ahead of the 2023 Netball World Cup in South Africa.

Tracey Neville, the former England manager, knows all about putting together a squad for a major competition and told Sky Sports she hopes to see plenty of the Roses in action.

“This time, before the World Cup, Jess Thirlby is trying to expose as many players as she can, in as many positions, and giving leadership roles to different people,” Neville said.

“That’s a really positive step for Thirlby to move forward because he needs to see which players are willing to do it, particularly when he’s lost Stacey Francis-Bayman and Eboni Usoro-Brown at the back.” [due to retirement]. Now he has two huge shoes to fill his positions and the only way to prove them is in the up-and-coming series.

“These are positive steps for the Roses moving forward and there are a lot of players there that I know and work with who want to challenge and get on that World Cup team.”

Uganda will be full of confidence, and we are under no illusions about how competitive the three matches will be. With both the year ahead and the long term in mind, it provides a perfect test of a Roses team in a new guise, full of exciting talent to embrace and we’ll be encouraged to have the support of our local fans.

Jess Thirlby – England head coach

Laura Malcolm and Imogen Allison have been named co-captains for the matches against Uganda in Nottingham and London, and Commonwealth Games captain Nat Metcalf is not part of the series. Nat Panagarry has withdrawn from the squad for personal reasons.

Both Malcolm and Allison are popular members of the team and have experience leading teams within the Vitality Netball Super League. Eleanor Cardwell is also an extremely experienced member of the squad selected to face Uganda.

Alice Harvey, Natasha Pavelin, Ellie Ratu, Paige Reed and Olivia Tchine have received their first call-ups, while many eyes will be on young defender Funmi Fadoju.

Thirlby has continuously watched Fadoju’s development and the London Pulse athlete was a Roses Futures athlete before moving to the program full-time for 2022-23.

“I think he has great talent, that’s why he was in the surroundings of the [full-time] program last year,” said the England head coach.

“The one thing that would appeal to people is that what you see on a pitch for 60 minutes is one thing, but there’s a whole narrative about helping manage these young players.

“Funmi is an amazing talent and we just need to make sure that with all the young talents we support them accordingly. That means if they break through, they will be here forever and not elevated.” too soon, without the necessary support around him.

With Francis-Bayman and Usoro-Brown hanging up their dresses and Layla Guscoth and Geva Mentor not being called up for the Uganda Series, Fadoju has a chance to shine and do so in the face of incredibly challenging opposition in the form of Mary Cholhok and Proscovia Paz.

Neville thinks another defender also has a great chance to claim a place in the World Cup.

“I look at Fran Williams, who made her debut when I was in the goalkeeping role, and she’s very talented,” Neville said. “She plays such a gritty man-to-man game that you can play against the best nations.”

At the other end of the pitch, Chelsea Pitman will once again wear England for the first time since the Vitality Netball Nations Cup in 2020.

After winning a gold medal with England on the Gold Coast in 2018, Pitman has been through an incredibly difficult time both personally and professionally and this series could mark the beginning of some real positivity and stability.

Pitman has a chance to flourish in an area of ​​the court that some thought was too light during the Commonwealth Games, the attacking flank position.

She joined London Pulse for the 2023 season and will be there with Jade Clarke, England’s most capped international, who returns to the England line-up for her tour of Australia.

Since succeeding Neville as head coach, Thirlby has worked hard to expose players to international netball at the right time and with a World Cup on the horizon, these test matches against Uganda are perfectly placed for her to see who can Handle the highest level of the game.

Coverage of the first test against Uganda begins at 6:30 p.m. on Sky Sports Mix on Wednesday with a first pass from the center at 7:00 p.m. The second Test takes place on Saturday and the final Test on Sunday, both live on Sky Sports.

Vitality Roses insoles

Vitality Roses squad to face Uganda: Imogen Allison, Eleanor Cardwell, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, Zara Everitt, Funmi Fadoju, Alice Harvey, Hannah Joseph, Laura Malcolm, Natasha Pavelin, Chelsea Pitman, Ellie Rattu, Paige Reed, Olivia Tchine, Fran Williams.

Vitality Roses squad to face Australia: Imogen Allison, Eleanor Cardwell, Jade Clarke, Beth Cobden, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, Funmi Fadoju, Layla Guscoth, Jo Harten, Alice Harvey, Helen Housby, Hannah Joseph, Laura Malcolm, Geva Mentor, Natalie Metcalf, Olivia Tchine, Fran Williams.

Vitality Roses squad to compete in FAST5 Netball World Series: Zara Everitt, Elle McDonald*, Taylor McKevitt, Natasha Pavelin, Lois Pearson, Jayda Pechova, Ellie Rattu, Paige Reed, Alicia Scholes, Emma Thacker.
*Waiting for UK passport to finalize eligibility