Jamaica's ace shooter Romelda Aiken - file photos

Jamaica's netballers have been hurting since a 3-0 whitewash by Australia in an away series last August.

The girls would dearly like to get back at the Australian Diamonds when they oppose the visitors in the opening match of a three-Test series this evening at 7 o'clock inside the National Indoor Sports Centre.

The last time the teams met at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, Australia blew away Jamaica 60-46 with the duo of captain Sharelle McMahon scoring 26 of 30 attempts and Natalie Medhurst, 34 of 35. Jamaica, on the other hand got 25 of 26 from Romelda Aiken and 12 of 17 from captain Simone Forbes.

Coach Connie Francis knows that a series win would provide a big lift in confidence.

"The aim right now is to improve our netball and if we can get a win or two that will be a major plus for us," Francis said.

world's best players

The team has the ammunition to beat the Aussies. The squad includes some of the world's best players in captain and goal attack Forbes, ace goal shooter Aiken, centre Nadine Bryan and defenders Kasey Evering and Althea Byfield.

"They are all confident of doing well," said Francis. "They know that it is important for us to play hard and compete for every minute of each game.

"They are all on trial and they would like to impress the selectors, including our technical director (Jill McIntosh), who is not here with us but will be getting all the feedback about the performance of the players.

"This is a series where we will use to help us to move our netball and to give us a solid chance come later on in the year to win the World Championships. We are in the rectifying stage because one of the things that we have to look at is how well we control the tempo of the game," said Francis.

The Jamaica coach added that playing at home will definitely give her team an advantage but they will have to slow down the Australians' fast-tempo game and capitalise off each interception that they make.

"It is very difficult to beat them at their pace because we don't play at that pace in Jamaica ... the only time we play a fast-tempo game is when we go up against the likes of Australia, New Zealand and England," Francis pointed out.

Meanwhile, Francis' opposite number, Norma Plummer, is upbeat entering today's encounter.

"We are confident because we always go out and play to win every game," said Plummer.

"We are expecting the series to be very tough for us because I know that Connie (Francis) will be testing the waters and we are also testing the waters too and so it is an opportunity for both coaches to make sure that they get the correct depth by the time we get to the World champs."

"We have three players that were unable to tour and it is giving me an opportunity to run some younger players and to see how they stand up before we make our final selection for the World champs," Plummer noted.

Jamaica Netball Association president, Marva Bernard (left) and Australia's captain, Sharelle McMahon, embrace on the team's arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport on Sunday. - Colin Hamilton

TEAMS:

Jamaica (from): Simone Forbes (captain), Kasey Evering, Althea Byfield, Romelda Aiken, Ann-Kay Griffith, Paula Thompson, Nadine Bryan, Sasher-Gaye Henry, Malysha Kelly, Kimone Tulloch, Jhanelle Fowler, Vanessa Walker, Marsha Murphy, Kameika Sherwood, Nicole Aiken.

Australia (from): Sharelle McMahon (captain), Natalie von Bertouch, Kate Beveridge, Madison Browne, Rebecca Bulley, Catherine Cox, Susan Fuhrmann, Laura Geitz, Kimberlee Green, Natalie Medhurst, Lauren Nourse, and Amy Steel.