There has been some surprise this week as the long squad of 20 players for the England team has been named for the forthcoming netball world cup.
Ama Agbeze, who captained the squad to their Commonwealth gold medal, has been left out of the final 12-strong squad, although is on a list of standby players should manager Tracey Neville need to call on her.
Speaking to the BBC following the announcement of the long squad, the 36-year-old said that although she’s disappointed and frustrated to be missing out on a place on the team, she feels as though she’s “at peace with the decision”.
Agbeze explained that because she’s been injured she’s “not where I need to be”. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to go not to my full capacity,” she told the news provider.
When she announced her long squad for the competition, Neville stressed that Agbeze is still an important part of the squad and that they would be “working very hard with her over the next few months” to ensure she’s in the best possible shape when July comes around.
Speaking to the Guardian recently about the Vitality Roses’ gold medal-winning match, former player turned commentator Sara Bayman said that she believed the match against Australia was “the pivotal moment for netball”.
“England winning just shook everything up. And I think other countries were inspired by that as well,” she said. All of this means we’re likely to have a very exciting netball world cup to look forward to later this summer. And with a home crowd, who knows what the England team can deliver?
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