MELBOURNE (CMC):
CARIBBEAN CHAMPIONS Jamaica have been drawn to face reigning gold medallists and hosts Australia in the preliminary stages of netball competition at next year's Commonwealth Games.
The Jamaicans, who won bronze at the last Commonwealth Games in England three years ago and Caribbean colleagues Barbados will play in Group A of the first round with Australia, Samoa, Wales and a yet to be decided Asian qualifier.
JAMAICA ON THIRD
Current world champions New Zealand are in Group B of the March 17-26 tournament in Melbourne with Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) giants St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), England, South Africa, Malawi, and Fiji.
New Zealand, based on their 2003 World Championship victory in Kingston, Jamaica, are current world No. 1, ahead of Australia, with Jamaica rated third and England fourth.
Barbados are rated seventh in the world and SVG 13th.
The preliminary round netball matches in the 2006 Commonwealth Games are slated for the State Netball Hockey Centre, with the semi-finals on March 25 and final the following day set for Melbourne Park.
Later this year, Australia play a one-off Test match against New Zealand, before taking on Jamaica in a three-match Test series.
A selection of 15 players will be made in mid December, from which the final Australian Commonwealth squad of 12 will be taken.
