Fowler-Reid: We are ready for T&T, England
CAPTAIN OF Jamaica’s senior netball team, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, says that this month’s Test series against Trinidad and Tobago and rivals England are both very important in their quest to secure a medal at next year’s World Championships.
The Sunshine Girls will face Trinidad and Tobago in a twomatch series starting on Sunday before closing out the series on Tuesday. They will then engage England in three Tests on October 11, 13 and 15. All five matches will be played at the National Indoor Sports Centre.
Fowler-Reid told The Gleaner that the Sunshine Girls have worked hard in their build-up for both series and they are looking to give a good account of themselves in front of the home fans.
“Both series are very important to us because not only will it help us to develop new players, it is also going to help us to see where we are at this time, especially in our battle against England, the second ranked team in the world,” said Fowler-Reid.
“We are currently at a stage where we are trying to find the best set of girls to go forward to next year. We have a lot of talent and so the coaches, I assume, are going to be looking carefully at us and helping us to push forward with these series,” said Fowler-Reid, who is rated as the top goalshooter in the world.
RANKED FOURTH
The Sunshine Girls are ranked fourth in the world, two below England in the standings.
The vastly experienced Fowler-Reid, who plays in the Australian Suncorp Super League with the West Coast Fever, pointed out that the Sunshine Girls are very optimistic going into both series.
“The preparations have been really good because the players have been very receptive to what the coaches have put forward,” said Fowler-Reid.
“The girls have been working very hard to ensure that they have sufficient fitness and court skills to go up against both teams,” she said.
The Sunshine Girls defeated England 2-1 in their last competitive series in 2016.