As good as England had been at this World Cup they did not stand a chance against Australia who rediscovered their winning cultureFor four long years the Australian Diamonds have been haunted by an absence. After securing the Netball World Cup trophy consecutively in 2007, 2011 and 2015, a one-goal loss to the old enemy New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup was painful. That it happened just one year after a devastatingly similar one-goal loss to England at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and swept their trophy cabinet bare, made it all the worse.A four-goal win over Jamaica in the gold medal match at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year appeared to steady the ship and put the team...
The goal shooter never gave up but Australia showed once again why they are the world’s best teamEllie Cardwell has one of the most expressive faces in netball. You can tell when England’s goal shooter is up, because her grin has the wattage of a battleship’s searchlight and at the start of this World Cup final she seemed to encapsulate her team’s confidence and joie de jouer. She sunk a shot from halfway back in the circle, and gestured to the crowd to make some noise. A lightning three-pass move left her in empty space under the net – the goal went in and she stuck two thumbs high in the air.So much had happened in English netball in the...
Australia’s imperfections slipped by unnoticed in their early games but Jamaica will give them nowhere to hideThe signs were there earlier than some realised. Hidden behind an average winning margin of 47.2 in their first five preliminary matches was a Diamonds outfit lacking its usual lustre. It was in their slow starts to many of those games, an inability to hit the ground running from the first whistle. It was in the 22 turnovers against the world No 10 Scotland and the first half draw with world No 6 Malawi. These tiny imperfections added up to create trouble at the team’s first real hurdle of the tournament. Their one-goal loss to England – the first time Australia has lost to...