England and Australia set for O2 netball showdown

The sides last met in the World Netball series last autumn, when Australia won the 3rd/4th place play-off.

But England stunned the Aussies with a win earlier in the tournament, the first time they had beaten the old enemy since the early 1980s, and England attacker Tamsin Greenway feels it shows there is now little between the two sides.

She said: "Australia are the number one team in the world right now but we think we have the team to beat them. Both countries are looking to build towards the Commonwealth Games later this year and this will be a good test for us to see where we are at.

"England have a good squad now, with a great blend of youth and experience, plus we've got players who have been playing in the ANZ competition in Australia coming back to add their experience."

With more of England's top players, including co-captain Sonia Mkoloma, playing Down Under it means there is extra incentive to beat the Australians.

Tamsin said: "I had a couple of years playing in Australia for Queensland Firebirds, so I'm friends with some of their players, as are plenty of the other England girls. But when we get on that court that's forgotten because we all have jobs to do. We're determined to prove we can match them."

Tamsin, 27, plays for Surrey Storm in the British Superleague and has been in the international set up for for six years. She played at The O2 last year when England beat Jamaica and she was impressed by the experience and feels it helps boost the profile of what is often dismissed as a schoolgirl sport.

She said: "It's an absolutely amazing venue. The atmosphere was briliant last year and I think it'll be even better this year, with Australia as the opponents. It's unusual for us to play in front of such big crowds here, although we do overseas. Mind you, there's always a big following in London.

"Netball's profile is definitely coming up. It's the highest female participation sport in the country but we just don't get the media coverage we should. The Superleague is shown on Sky TV and hopefully that will help build interest in the sport."

The Commonwealth Games is the target for England this year, but security issues mean England's participation in Delhi in October is in doubt. But it's not something Tamsin is worrying about.

She said: "We all want to go to Delhi and winning a gold medal is our aim. We are aware of the security concerns but we'll leave that to other people to sort out. We're just keeping our heads down and working hard and hopefully we'll be there in October.

"But first of all we're concentrating on beating Australia next month."

The Co-operative International netball series, England v Australia is at The O2 on Tuesday, February 23. For tickets visit theo2.co.uk or by calling 0844 856 0202.