Bring on the champions!
Date published: 25 January 2010
TWO women with strong Oldham connections are in the England squad to take on Australia in next month’s three-Test series.
Jade Clarke and Sara Bayman were members of the successful Oldham Netball Club before moving to another level.
Jade and Sara now play for Northern Thunder — whose home games are held at the Castle Leisure Centre, Bury — in the Co-operative Netball Superleague.
And their performances have attracted the attention of the England selectors, who have picked them for the 18-strong squad in the build-up to the Australia Tests.
Before her move to the Thunder, Jade (26) spent the previous four years playing for Loughborough Lightning.
And Sara (24) played a vital role in the success of the undefeated TeamBath side in The Co-operative Netball Superleague before moving back to the North.
Both women will be hoping to be in the England starting line-up for the first Test against Australia at the Liverpool Arena on Friday, February 19.
The following two Tests will be held in Nottingham on February 21 and London on February 23.
All three matches will be shown live on Sky Sports.
Although world champions Australia will be tough nuts to crack, Jade is confident England have the fire power to cause an upset.
“We did manage to beat them in the recent world series but, to be fair, that was only over four six-minute periods,” she said.
“We have to show that we can do the same thing over an hour in the Test series next month.”
