England eye historic win

England will be bidding to beat Australia for the first time in nearly 30 years this weekend as they take on the world champions in a three-Test series.

It was June 1981 when England's women last tasted victory against the Green and Gold machine, but Tamsin Greenway reckons the long wait could be about to come to an end.

"They are the number one in the world so they are the target, but we have been getting closer," Greenway told skysports.com. "We beat them in the FastNet competition - that was a great result - and we have beaten New Zealand recently - so we have got a great chance."

The 27-year-old Surrey Storm wing attack has been capped 23 times by her country since making her debut against South Africa in 2004, and has seen netball in this country take big strides since then.

The most important boost to the game has undoubtely been the creation of a national club competition for the first time, with nine teams now competing on a nationwide basis.

"Superleague has been massive for us," Greenway said. "The standard has definitely been raised across the board and we have seen that in the England performances.

"The Australian league system has been running a lot longer than ours, but we are catching up fast."

Greenway and some of her England colleagues have also had experience playing in the professional ANZ League down under - a competition comprising five teams apiece from Australia and New Zealand.

"It is a step up in the ANZ because it is full-time professional and that is pretty amazing - a lot different," said Greenway, who has played for the Queensland Firebirds in the last two ANZ competitions.
Experience

"Seven of the England team have been out there for the last two years and we have been able to learn from that experience, which has definitely helped us."

All this suggests that England will again be competitive against the world champions, but can they beat them?

"We have been in winning positions before but we have let them get back into it," she admits. "They never know when they are beaten - that is their mindset and it comes from winning all the time! We just have to take that extra step, beat them once and it all changes."

Greenway also reckons home support could be key.

"It's never easy for a touring team and we know we are going to get great support," she added. "Home games are fantastic - playing in front of huge crowds, it's a great atmosphere and it gets everyone buzzing. We have got to start fast in the first game and ride that wave of support.

Confident

"Plus, we know we've been playing well and we are confident. We've got a great chance."

The first Test is at Liverpool's Echo Arena on Friday evening, followed by matches in Nottingham on Sunday and London on Tuesday.