Sunshine Girls aim to put on a show

While the English team will be using the three-Test series against Jamaica at the National Indoor Sports Centre this weekend to assess its form in the build-up to the Netball World Cup later this year, the Sunshine Girls sometimes feel they still need to prove their worth to the Jamaican public.

The Sunshine Girls are ranked fourth in the World in netball and are the highest-ranked Jamaican team in any sport but still struggle for popularity and recognition.

Goal attack Thristina Harwood told The Gleaner that when the national team faces England, not only will they be working to ensure that they beat their arch-rivals, they will also be looking to put on a show for the Jamaican public.

"They're not going to come to our country and beat us. We all know they're coming for revenge, but trust me, we're coming harder than they're going to expect. We're just going to prove to Jamaica that we are good, and we're going to go out there and do our best," Harwood said.

The 5'10" netballer, who made her senior team debut against England as a 19-year-old in April 2013, said that the workouts for the series were going well.

spectacular rivalry

"Preparation has been going on well so far. The girls have been training hard and we're just looking forward to the next one."

The Jamaicans have had a spectacular rivalry with the English team and have often traded wins with the Roses in games and series over the last decade.

Harwood, who was the Most Valuable Player of the 2013 Fast5 World Series, had no doubt about what the result of this series would be.

"We're going to beat them!" she said.