Carolyn Johnson, Freelance Writer

CONNIE FRANCIS, coach of the national netball team, is confident that Jamaica will win their three-Test series against Trinidad and Tobago, which starts today at the National Arena.

The series will serve as preparation for both teams' participation at the 12th World Netball Championship to be held in July 2007 in Fiji. Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the Championship after they won the America's Federation regional qualifier held in Barbados in August. Jamaica did not take part in the tournament as they had already qualified for the championship due to their third-place world ranking.

"For sure we should win. I have no hesitation saying that, it's how well we play and if we can play consistently over the three days. I really want to see us play consistently well throughout the series," Francis said.

The Trinidad and Tobago team arrived in the island on Wednesday morning with a team of 12 players, manager, coach and trainer. Donna Cox, manager and public relations officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Netball Association, said her team was ready and looking forward to the matches.

"I think we are as prepared as can be. The team is training hard, we went to Barbados and placed first. So when we got invited to come here we were happy to come and to match wits against Jamaica," Cox said.

Though playing with two new members to their team and a few injuries from the qualifiers, Cox said her team would rise to the occasion.

Trained hard

"They trained very hard and their level is one of the best for a while," she said. "We are trying to regain the place we held in the Caribbean and know we need to play against Jamaica to see how good we are. It's part of further preparations for the World Championships."

Meanwhile, the Jamaica camp is raring to go.

"There are no injuries, thank God. We are all settled in, everybody is adjusting to positions and their role on the court. We are working with different types of combinations, everybody is challenging each other. There are many youngsters on the team, we're trying to get them to blend in," Francis said. "The series is a test to see if we are into the right direction and to see if we have time to make changes (before the World Championships)." The first centre pass throws off at 6:30 tonight after a pre-game show featuring Digicel Rising Stars' One Third and Christopher Martin at 6:15 p.m. The other games will be tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday at 4:00 p.m.