South Africa and Jamaica announce squads for Vitality Netball World Cup 2019

Tracey Neville's England squad will be named live on Sky Sports News on Thursday, May 23

By Emma Thurston

Image: South Africa are in Group C alongside Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Fiji

Bongi Msomi will lead South Africa at this summer's Netball World Cup in Liverpool.

The prolific WA, who will be taking part in her third Netball World Cup, drives their energy on court and was integral in the SPAR Proteas' recent victory over England during January's Netball Quad Series.

With their dynamism and improvement, South Africa turned heads earlier in the year and their 12-player squad has the benefit of having the exceptionally experienced Norma Plummer as their head coach.

Vitality Netball Superleague players Shadine Van der Merwe and Maryka Holtzhausen have been given the nod by Plummer, however, Surrey Storm's Sigi Burger misses out on selection.

Plummer, who led the Australian Diamonds to two World Cup gold medals, will have four days with her squad before they play two warm-up matches against Wales on July 4 and 5.

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The SPAR Proteas will been keen to gel quickly ahead as their campaign commences on the opening day of the competition on July 12, live on Sky Sports, against Trinidad and Tobago.

Meanwhile, Jamaica, ranked third in the world, have also announced a squad that contains a whole host of familiar faces keen to make waves in Liverpool.

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The squad will be taking to the court for the nation's 15th World Cup appearance and will be looking to build on the bronze medal they won at the Commonwealth Games last year.

Jamaica's last five Netball World Cup finishes

1999 Christchurch, New Zealand Fourth
2003 Kingston, Jamaica Third
2007 Auckland, New Zealand Third
2011 Singapore Fourth
2015 Sydney, Australia Fourth

Sharp-shooting Jhaniele Fowler is hailed by many as one of the most prolific shooters in world netball and has been selected to anchor them up front. The 29-year-old, who plays for West Coast Fever, has scored 201 of her 210 attempts in Super Netball so far this season.

At the other end, the electric defender Shamera Sterling, known as the 'Interception Queen' by her Adelaide Thunderbirds' team-mates, will be present to spearhead defensive proceedings.

Image: Defender Sterling recorded eight intercepts against the Collingwood Magpies, equaling Sharni Layton’s record for the most intercepts in a Super Netball game

Elsewhere in the squad, Superleague fans will recognise the names Stacian Facey and Jodi-Ann Ward after their work in with Celtic Dragons and Severn Stars respectively.

The board of Netball Jamaica will meet shortly to select a team captain and the Sunshine Girls' tournament also starts on the opening day. First, they will meet Fiji before facing Trinidad and Tobago and finally clash with Plummers' South Africa.

Tournament hosts, England, will announce their 12-player squad live on Sky Sports News on Thursday May, 23.

Watch every match of the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019, live on Sky Sports. Coverage starts on Friday, July 12 plus keep up to date with all of the latest competition news, results and enjoy in-depth features at SkySports.com/netball

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