Robert Bailey, Freelance Writer

Aiken

Dacia Barnes, assistant coach of Jamaica's Under-21 netball team, said despite the absence of ace national goal shooter Romelda Aiken, she is very confident the team will win the three-Test series against Australia.

"Romelda is a big player but we have other players who can step up to the plate and I believe the girls are ready for this challenge," said Barnes.

Aiken is currently representing the Queensland Firebirds in the New Zealand professional league. Barnes also noted that despite the lack of international practice matches, she is very confident of victory.

Depth in squad

"I believe that we have depth in this squad to beat the Australians because most of these players are coming up from the Under-16 team which has won a number of Caribbean tournaments before," Barnes said.

She added: "I think we have a pretty balanced team. We have Christina (Solmon) who has two years' international experience under her belt and I believe that she can fill the shoes of Romelda (Aiken)."

The first match will be played tomorrow with the second set for two days later and the final game is scheduled for next Monday. All games will be played at the G.C. Foster College in St Catherine.

Barnes stated that one of the priorities of this series is to give the girls as much international experience as possible before the World Championships.

"Our main objective is to win this series and to cement the starting seven for the championships and to minimise the number of turnovers during the matches," noted Barnes.

She said the team had watched the Australians play against a select team on Saturday and felt prepared for the encounter.

"I think that they are pretty much ready because the team is where we want it to be," she concluded.