Corbin sisters miss out
Wednesday 1 July 2015 17:18, UK
Geva Mentor will captain an experienced England squad brimming with ANZ Championship and Superleague talent at the Netball World Cup.
But there is no room for Kadeen or Sasha Corbin in the 12-player squad for the Sydney showpiece, live on Sky Sports between August 7 and 16.
Mentor is skipper in her fourth World Cup outing with Pamela Cookey, an international since 2004, named vice-captain with the shooter aiming to make up for lost time after she missed last year's Commonwealth Games through injury.
Head coach Tracey Neville said it was not a demotion for Cookey.
"Pamela was a massive influence in respect the team but for me it was about brignin in a leader, someone who leads by example and Geva Mentor, obviously being classed number one in the world last year and having worked with her, I think she is the right captain leading us into the World Cup," Neville told Sky Sports HQ.
“The squad have a massive respect for her, so do the coaching team.
“Pamela’s quite savvy, we’ve discussed it at length. She’s a shooter as well and I would never have a shooter as my captain: I think they’re under enough pressure, particularly on match days when captains have to stand up and do a lot of the media and a lot of the team culture.
“I’m saying to Pam ‘Cookey, I want you to go out and do a job and the only job I want you to do is to get in that circle and shoot those goals’."
Mentor, meanwhile, said she and Cookey would be a united leadership team heading in to the World Cup.
“I’ve been in the team for a number years now and I’ve been under some great captains. I’ve seen all leadership roles and, for me, I think my leadership style and quality is that I lead by example,” Mentor told Sky Sports HQ.
"Pam is such a dear friend to me. We’ve come up through the ranks (together): we started our England netball campaign at Under-17 and we’ve been through injuries, we’ve been through not making teams.
"So be able to lead this team with her by my side – she does such a fantastic job, she’s so professional – it’s just going to be really exciting to know that I’ve got her support and being able to take some advice from her."
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.
Eboni Beckford-Chambers, Jade Clarke and Jo Harten (who ply their trade in Australia and New Zealand's top league) have been included alongside SKYCITY Mystics' Serena Guthrie, who won the ANZ Championship's Best New Talent award.
In the attacking circle, Rachel Dunn and Helen Housby have been selected. Linking up with them 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.
The Corbin sisters, Ama Agbeze and Natalie Haythornthwaite will travel to Sydney as training partners and, along with the remainder of the long list, will act as reserves for the Netball World Cup.
"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," Neville said.
“The coaches feel that the selected squad has the experience, talent, consistency and determination to fulfill the rigorous schedule of the World Cup and put the performance out on court that is worthy of an England team.
"I do believe this is an England team that will put out a performance that is good enough for England.
"That’s all I can ask of the girls. Whatever result they get on the back of that is what will happen."
England squad for 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.
