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No one is safe - McIntosh

Published:Wednesday | June 17, 2015 | 12:00 AMRobert Bailey
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Richard Byles, President & CEO of Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited joins (from left) Jill McIntosh, Jamaica Netball Team's Technical Director; Minneth Reynolds and Annett Daley, Head Coaches for a photo op during a cocktail reception at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday, April 14. Sagicor presented the Sunshine Girls with $3M toward their preparation for the Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia set for August 7-16, 2015

Technical director of Netball Jamaica Jill McIntosh said there are no safe spots on the Sunshine Girls team to this year's Netball World Cup (NWC).

The NWC will be held in Sydney, Australia, in August and the Australian-born McIntosh made it clear that everyone will have to prove themselves to the selectors in the upcoming three-match series against Barbados.

The three-match test against the Bajans is set to begin tomorrow.

"It is going to be very difficult because we have 18 players in the squad and we have to select 12 for the Netball World Cup," said McIntosh. "It is important for the players this week to show the selectors what they can do and that they can combine with everyone on court."

"All persons will be given a fair and equal viewing. No one has preference over anyone else," McIntosh said, adding that the series forms a crucial part of the Sunshine Girls' preparations for the NWC.

"Barbados are going to the World Championships and they will be good," said McIntosh, who led the Sunshine Girls to the bronze medal at last year's Commonwealth Games.

 

Newcomers in the team

 

Overseas-based player Jhaniele Fowler-Reid is among the Sunshine Girls' 17-member team selected for the series. The team also includes newcomers Simone Gordon and Kadie-Ann Dehaney, who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the just-concluded Berger Paints Elite League. The team also includes captain Nicole Aiken-Pinnock.

Aiken-Pinnock's younger sister, Romelda, who also plays overseas in the ANZ Championships, is set to join up with the team later. The Sunshine Girls finished a disappointing fourth in the last NWC which was held in Singapore four years ago. Meanwhile, the Bajans arrived in the island yesterday ahead of the series, which starts on Friday.