Forget fanfare, just give me a win

LISA Alexander doesn’t want anything to mark her 100th Test as coach of the Australian netball team apart from a win.

Alexander will oversee her milestone game when the Diamonds take on New Zealand in Auckland tomorrow (5.30pm, AEDT) night in game two of the Constellation Cup in Auckland.

They were pipped in the opening match of the four-Test series in Christchurch 53-52, with the Silver Ferns storming home in the final quarter and wiping out a fivegoal deficit.

Taking over the top job in 2011, Alexander is the first Australian coach to reach such a mark, with her contract last year extended until the end of 2020.

While a presentation would be made before the Auckland Test, Alexander said she didn’t need the fanfare.

“Really, all I want to do is win the match,” she told Netball Australia. “That’ll make me really happy.”

A former maths teacher, Alexander has steered the Diamonds to a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2014 and World Cup in 2015 but the past two years have been lean, with England taking the Commonwealth title and New Zealand the world crown in July.

Despite the recent losses, they remain world No.1.

Alexander said she was disappointed that she and captain Caitlin Bassett — the only player remaining since she took over in 2011 — had surrendered those titles.

She named shooter Bassett and former skipper Sharelle McMahon as the two most-memorable players during her Diamonds coaching career.

The two final Tests will be played in Sydney and Perth, with Australia looking to extend its hold on the Cup to seven years.