Robert Bailey, STAR Writer

England's Under-21 netballers touched down at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday afternoon determined to get the better of their Caribbean counterparts Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in the tri-nation series, which is set to begin tomorrow at the University of West Indies (UWI) Bowl.

The English coach, Colette Thomson, said the triangular series forms a very important part of their build-up for the next month's World Youth Netball Championships.

"It is very important because we wanted to come here in our build-up for the World Youth Championships in the summer because we have not been here since 2011," said Thomson.

"We know how strong the Jamaicans are and it has always been a close thing between England and Jamaica and so we are really looking forward to a strong contest," she said.

experienced roster

The coach will be banking on an experienced roster, which features a number of players who featured in their senior team's three-match series against Australia earlier this year.

"It's really a mixture of youth and experience because we have a couple of youngsters 16 (years) and then couple of the others who have been out with the seniors in Australia and so it's a blend of everything that you can imagine for this series," Thomson pointed out.

Despite this, she noted that there are other challenges.

"They (Jamaica) are very good, they are very aerial, they have very long arms and they are a very strong side and so we know that we have our work cut out for us in the next fortnight," Thomson said.

England will open their account against Trinidad and Tobago on Friday at the University of Technology.

The Trinidadians, who will play Jamaica in the opening game tomorrow, are due today.