Tuesday 21 October 2014 12:55, UK
England's co-captain Sonia Mkoloma explains why she is looking forward to facing Jamaica.
So 2009 and the Co-operative International Netball Series is getting closer and closer, I can't wait!
England will be taking on Jamaica in a home Test series in February. I'll be the first to say that this will be a fast and physical series from start to finish and we will see the world's third (England) and fourth-ranked (Jamaica) netball teams battling it out for national pride and bragging rights, oh and of course that world ranking!
Plus you'll get to see me and Karen leading out our girls. I was very proud to be selected as co-captain again for the series alongside Karen Atkinson. She is the ultimate professional and we get on really well and bounce off each other. We also both sing from the same hymn sheet about where England is at now and where we can be potentially.
As part of the Test series we are also playing at the O2 for the first time ever, something I am personally really excited about and I know all the other girls are too. So make sure you all get out and buy your tickets as it's gonna be BIG!
I have just returned from a five-day England camp. It was selection time for the Jamaica series so everyone was at their best and it was very intense, just what you need as part of a solid build up to big matches. Then we finished it off with a team building day at Sandhurst Army base.
The squad selected is a very diverse England squad again. Bath's Eboni Beckford-Chambers has been selected for the 12, she has been working with the squad for a while now and also working with the Under-21s for a long time. Her inclusion changes the dynamic of our defence a bit and it was great working in this new environment at training.
Tamsin Greenway has moved to C/WA completely now and this also gives us more options in the centre court which is great.
Jamaica will be very strong once again. I am sure they will utilise Romelda Aiken, who has gained lots of experience playing in the ANZ Championship, similar to myself.
Their squad may be a surprise for us and are a little bit of an unknown in some ways as many of their players play basketball in the States and then come back to play netball. No matter what they will be strong contenders and we will have to be at our very best and perform well at all three Tests.
We have also gained valuable experience and come far from our series against New Zealand and Australia in 2008 and have learned a lot about what it takes mentally to bet at the very top constantly, so now is the right time to test ourselves once again.
We are so ready for the challenge and can't wait so get your tickets soon and see you there!
Sonia xx
