Robert Bailey, Freelance Writer

Members of Jamaica's netball team (from left) Christina Salmon, Romelda Aiken and captain Elaine Davis pose before their departure from the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday. Jamaica's netball team left for Australia to play two Test matches before moving on to New Zealand to play two more games. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

A CONFIDENT 12-member Sunshine Girlz team left the island yesterday for Oceania where they will participate in two double-Test match series against world number one and number two-ranked sides, New Zealand and Australia.

The Jamaican netballers will be playing their first competitive tournaments since their 3-0 home series victory over Trinidad and Tobago last November.

They will first play Australia in Melbourne on Thursday with the return game set for Sydney three days later.

The Jamaicans, who are ranked number three in the world, will then travel to New Zealand where they will oppose the hosts. The first Test match will be played on July 12 in Christchurch with the second set for Auckland two days later.

Connie Francis, who took over as head coach of the Sunshine Girlz last July, said she is confident the team will do well.

"How well I am not sure, but I am confident that this set of girls has the tenacity because they want to win and to do well and they believe that they can do well and they have also convinced me, as the coach, that they can do well," Francis said before the team's departure yesterday.

"It was really a thorough preparation in the sense that we have started from the basics. We have worked on our fitness,our ball skills, tactical play and we have also worked on our strength and conditioning," she said.

"We have also worked on some of our individual players to help them to improve on aspects of the game and we have worked with them collectively as a team, so it was really a good preparation."

The coach said the Jamaicans would be using the tour as part of their preparation for this year's World Championships which will be held in New Zealand in November.

The team includes former Under-16 goal shooter Christina Salmon who will be making her senior team debut.

"I am very confident because I have been working really hard for a long time now, so I am confident about going on this trip," said Salmon, who was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) at last year's Caribbean Under-16 championships in Trinidad and Tobago.

"The training was good; we have been working four days a week, two hours a day, so the preparation was good."

The rest of the squad is: captain Elaine Davis, Nicola Aiken Byfield, Kasey Evering, Marvetta Murray, Nichala Gibson, Sasher-Gaye Henry, Peter-Gaye Thomas, Romelda Aiken, Simone Forbes and Andrea Watson.