Silver Ferns to host series against England next month

The Silver Ferns will host netball’s world No 3-ranked England in New Zealand next month in a three-test series, with all matches to be played at Christchurch Arena to minimise additional travel risk.

Matches are scheduled for September 20, 22 and 24 as Netball New Zealand continues to work with the Government around the evolving Covid-19 outbreak and alert levels.

England players boarded a flight on Thursday and will go into managed quarantine on arrival in Christchurch.

After the series, England are preparing to extend their tour across the Tasman with a series against the Australian Diamonds.

Netball New Zealand, England Netball and Netball Australia have been working closely with their governments around MIQ logistics.

The increased complication of New Zealand’s lockdown and restrictions meant there was uncertainty.

Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie said the latest Covid19 outbreak had added complexity around organising the test series.

“It is exciting to host England on our shores again. I would like to acknowledge the huge amount of work that both England Netball, Netball Australia and our Netball NZ team have worked tirelessly over a period of many months to enable the tour to get to this point,” she said in a statement yesterday.

“We have been working closely with Government, Sport NZ and High Performance Sport NZ over many months to facilitate this tour.

“We want to ensure our athletes have the best possible opportunities to compete as we head towards the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

“However, the health and safety of our players, administrators and fans is our priority and we will continue to follow all government guidance,” Wyllie said.

Tickets will be released for the matches if and when Christchurch moves to alert level 1.