Strong SA netball preliminary squad picked for England series

SA netball coach Dorette Badenhorst has announced a strong 15-women preliminary squad to face England in the three-match Test series in Cape Town at the end of November.

The final 12 players will be announced on November 28.

The Proteas take on the Roses at the Bellville Velodrome on November 29‚ 30 and December 1. After the series Badenhorst and assistant Dumisani Chauke will select the team for the Vitality Nations Cup in Birmingham in January.

“We will select the final 12 players to play against England after a few days of training and camp‚” Badenhorst said.

“We are looking forward to an interesting Test series with a lot of new players in the England team as well as experienced players like Stacey Francis, who will be back on court for England.

“After completion of the series we will select the 12 players who will participate in the Vitality Nations Cup in January 2020‚” Badenhorst said.

Some of the key players who have been selected are captain Bongi Msomi‚ Lenize Potgieter‚ Khanyisa Chawane‚ Ine-Mari Venter‚ Phumza Maweni‚ Monieque Reyneke and Precious Mthembu.

“We are happy [about] and proud of the team that the coaching duo has put together‚” Netball SA president Cecilia Molokwane said.

“We have 15 players selected as opposed to 12‚ and this is an indication of how the game is growing and this gives us good headaches.

“We are seeing growth in the sport and this is what we have always aimed for as a federation.

“The assembled team is very strong‚ and we have full confidence that they will deliver the results‚” Molokwane said.

SA and England will be meeting for the fourth time in 2019 with the Proteas having won one match during the Quad Series and the Roses coming on top twice during the 2019 Netball World Cup.

Of their last six matches‚ England have won four and SA two.