Jhaniele Fowler says international player cap should remain open
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While acknowledging that playing in Australia has assisted in her development as a player to arguably become the best goal shooter in the world, Jamaica's ace Jhaniele Fowler says international players have given the Super Netball competition more flavour and flair.
Fowler, who represents the West Coast Fever shared her views in the midst of a debate about whether Super Netball should have a cap on international players, who currently make up 17.5 per cent of all players in the tournament.
Fowler, a five-time league MVP, believes the competition should remain open.
“International players do come in and make the competition rounded and exciting. We do bring a little bit of different flavour, a bit of flair, but just more talents and more skill set,” Fowler said in a recent interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
Though the Australia Football League (AFL), the Australia Football League Women’s (AFLW) and the A-Leagues don’t have any official caps on international players –with the caveat that salary caps can limit star imports –the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) limits imports to two per team, while the National Basketball League (NBL) is capped at three.
In a global context, the Women’s Super League soccer competition in England has a “home grown players” clause where in a squad of 25 players registered in their squad cap, there must be at least 15 registered home-grown players. A home-grown player is someone who, irrespective of their nationality, has been registered with a club affiliated to the Football Association for three seasons – or 36 months – before their 21st birthday.
In the UK-based Netball Superleague, teams are permitted up to two overseas players, but a team cannot have more than one overseas player in the attacking, midcourt or defensive positions on the court at once.
But, where Super Netball is concerned, Fowler is one of seven Jamaican players in the Australian league, including Thunderbirds defensive duo Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson and Collingwood’s Shimona Nelson.
For Fowler, moving to Australia has made her a more complete player, as she pointed to improvements to her craft under elite coaches and, by extension, playing against the best in the world each week. But in the same breath, she is of the view that it is also a two-way street, as the Jamaican players have made the game more exciting.
“They’re amazing, they’re so athletic,” said Fowler.
“Just week in, week out, when you see the Jamaican players go out there, the commentators, everyone, has to talk about them because they have made such an impact in this league in their teams,” she added.
Former Diamonds head coach, and a current coaching mentor, Lisa Alexander, didn’t think there should be a cap on international players, but her stance was different while she was Australia’s coach.
“As a national coach with a different purpose, I thought differently in the past and did call for restrictions to be two imports per team. If we eventually become the best in the world like the NBA [is to basketball], then we must have a draft and salary cap,” she said.
Alexander explained that, without a cap, the Super Netball competition would continue to provide a world-class competition for Australian athletes to compete in, week in, week out.
Netball legend and Hall of Famer Jill McIntosh praised the strength of the league but pushed for a cap on the number of international players allowed in the competition.
McIntosh, who captained Australia to their 1983 World Cup win, said that while imports have been good for the league, she is worried that without a limit, potential Diamonds players could be benched.
“We’re not in the Olympics, so our World Cup is our pinnacle,” McIntosh said. “I want to see the sport survive and thrive.”
Meanwhile, veteran netballer Ash Brazill said she would like to see more teams added to the competition to give more opportunities to local players, given the spots taken up by international players.
“I can’t wait to see extra teams added to our league because in the end there are only 80 spots, and we have 25 internationals. It’s pretty hard as Australians to get one of those 55 spots that are left. I think we definitely need some more teams for the Australian pool,” said Brazill.
However, Fowler reiterated international players also improve world netball by affording more opportunities for players in countries that don’t have avenues to develop or play.
“I reckon it should just stay open because, if you look, there are still teams in the league that do not really have an international player on their team yet. I reckon I can safely say that, and if anything, some teams just maybe have one international player,” Fowler argued.
She continued: “But I reckon, yeah, bring the international players in, also give them the experience because other countries don’t have the competition back home to develop players.
“So, it would be good for netball on a whole because then you will see that the competition is not just Australia, New Zealand, England or Jamaica in top four – other countries are putting out and delivering as well. And then netball is just going to be even more exciting. You just don’t want to see the same countries winning all the time.”
That international rivalry will be put on show at the upcoming World Cup in Cape Town in next month, but first Fowler has a Super Netball semi-final to win.
Despite West Coast having an inconsistent season with “ups and downs”, the 36-year-old Fowler said they are proud to have finished in third spot, meaning they take on Melbourne Vixens in a knockout grand final rematch in which the Fever will have home-court advantage.
“Definitely, it will be pretty good coming up against the Vixens. They’re going to be a really tough team to beat, but we know that we have what it takes to win,” Fowler declared.
“The green army, they’re really loud, and they also always help to get us over the line, so we’re going to make sure to capitalize on having the home court,” she ended.
Marsh named captain in Australia's T20 World Cup squad as Smith and Fraser-McGurk miss out
Mitchell Marsh will captain Australia at next month's T20 World Cup, but Steve Smith and Jake Fraser-McGurk have been left out of the 15-man squad.
Marsh, who has shared the duties on an interim basis since Aaron Finch's retirement, was named the Baggy Greens' permanent T20 skipper on Wednesday.
Test captain Pat Cummins, fast bowler Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell have also been named in the squad, which features 11 of the players that were part of the team that won this tournament in 2021.
However, there is no place for former skipper Smith following a difficult spell of form, while Fraser-McGurk is also absent despite his impressive form in the Indian Premier League.
"This is an experienced squad with extensive World Cup experience that offers a variety of structures and covers the scenarios the panel believes will factor in the West Indies with the unique nature of the venues and our opponents," selection chief George Bailey said.
"Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.
"Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover.
"Ultimately, the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign."
"It's been an immense privilege to play for my country and now an even greater honour to lead the squad to a World Cup," Marsh added.
"We have had some strong success in recent times, and I am hopeful that will continue in what looks like a wide-open tournament."
Australia will begin their tournament against Oman on June 5, while they will also play England, Scotland and Namibia in Group B.
Australia's provisional squad:
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Windies to test T20 World Cup readiness against South Africa, Australia in Jamaica and T&T; final squad to be named this week
With the ICC Men’s Twenty 20 World Cup now just about a month away, Darren Sammy and his West Indies team will up the tempo on preparations, before testing their readiness for the June 1-29 global showpiece, with a final warm-up match against Australia in Trinidad and Tobago.
Sammy’s final squad, which is expected to be named sometime this week, will be one of nine teams to travel to the Trinidad and Tobago in May for eight warm-up matches, four of which will take place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, while the other four is scheduled for the historic Queen’s Park Oval. The teams will arrive in twin island republic on May 21.
The revelation came from Cricket West Indies’s (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave during the recently-concluded CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, in Port of Spain.
Grave explained that the final West Indies squad will not convene in full until they travel to Jamaica at the end of May to engage South Africa in three warm-up contests. However, he pointed out that there will be a camp in Antigua prior, which will involve members of the final squad, who are not plying their trade in the Indian Premier League.
From Jamaica, the Rovman Powell-captained squad will then travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the clash against 50-over World Cup winners Australia, ahead of the tournament to be hosted in the Caribbean and United States.
West Indies, the 2012 and 2016 champions, are hunting a third T20 World Cup title.
“We’re going to have a week-long preparation camp in Antigua from May 12, before heading to Jamaica. We’re then going to leave Jamaica and come here to Trinidad and Tobago for a week’s preparation, including playing at the historic Queen’s Park Oval on May 30, in an evening fixture against one of the tournament favourites Australia,” Grave shared.
“That will probably be one of the only games in the warm-up schedule that will be ticketed, and we certainly hope that the fans here in Trinidad, and particularly those in Port of Spain, will come out and rally behind the West Indies in that warm-up match, which is the final game we’ll play before we head to Guyana for the opening game on June 2,” he added.
West Indies, who are drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea, will open against the latter at the Guyana National Stadium on June 2.
Grave urged fans to come out and rally behind the West Indies outfit in their push to start the tournament on a high.
“Making sure we have a huge party in Georgetown, and we get off to a winning start (will be crucial). We all know in these global tournaments, confidence and momentum are important and we can think of nothing better than starting with a victory in Guyana and ending it in Barbados on June 29 with a similar victory,” Grave said.
Fowler-Nembhard achieves 8,000-goal milestone in Fever's win over Mavericks; Aiken-George fires Thunderbird over Lightning
Jamaica’s Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard celebrated another milestone in the Suncorp Super Netball League, as she surpassed the 8,000-goal mark in leading West Coast Fever to an exciting 69-62 victory over Melbourne Mavericks at the John Cain Arena on Saturday.
The ever-reliable Fowler-Nembhard scored a perfect 50 goals from 50 attempts, with support from compatriot Shanice Beckford, who had 18 goals from 16 attempts, including four supershots worth two points each. Olivia Wilkinson contributed the other goal in the Fever’s third-consecutive win.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks scoring was also led by a Jamaican Shimona Jok, who registered 27 goals from 29 attempts before taking up goalkeeper duties. Eleanor Cardwell had 22 goals from 22 attempts, while Gabrielle Sinclair, who sunk six supershots, ended with 13 goals from nine attempts.
The West Coast Fever delivered three quarters of relentless netball, extinguishing any hope of a home victory for the Mavericks on this occasion.
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard continued to shine brightly, showcasing her exceptional early season form, as the Fever’s made their intentions clear from the start. However, the Mavericks through Maisie Nankivell and Jok, ensured it remained a tightly contested affair, as they took a three-goal lead 17-14 at the conclusion of the first quarter.
Like they did at the start, the Fever scored four unanswered goals at the top of the second quarter courtesy of intercepts by Jamaican Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Jess Anstiss. Though the Mavericks tried to regain the momentum back, Kelsey Browne’s speed and pressure in centre court, saw Fever control and dominate the contest at 40-32 at the half-time interval.
In a surprising move for the Mavericks, Jok transitioned from goalshoot to goalkeeper with hopes of containing Fowler-Nembhard, and her immediate impact was evident. However, Beckford's precision sinking supershots rendered the move futile.
From there, the speed in attack and high intensity pressure led by Dehaney and Fran Williams in defence, coupled with the accuracy of the shooters, propelled the Fever’s to a 11-goal lead at 54-43 to close the third quarter.
The fourth quarter started in the same vein, as Fowler-Nembhard scored her 42nd goal of the evening and brought up 8,000 National League Goals in the process.
Fever held a 10-goal lead at the start of Power Five, before the Mavericks’ supershot prowess saw them cut the deficit to five, but the Dan Ryan-coached Fever’s held their own to close out the win.
Elsewhere, Adelaide Thunderbirds, the team of Jamaicans Romelda-Aiken George, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, and Latanya Wilson, rebounded from last week’s defeat to top Sunshine Coast Lightning 60-56, at the UniSC Arena.
Aiken-George led the Thunderbirds with 43 goals from 48 attempts, with Lauren Frew (14 goals from 21 attempts), and Lucy Austin (three goals from five attempts) getting in on the act.
Meanwhile, Cara Koenen (24 goals from 26 attempst), Steph Fratwell (26 goals from 27 atempts) and Reilley Batcheldor (six goals from nine attempts) got the goals the Lightning.
The game began with a flurry of errors, centre pass missteps, poor passes, and some defenders hungry for the ball. Both teams traded turnovers, but it was the Lightning, who fell behind as they couldn’t convert from their centre pass.
At the other end, the Thunderbirds not only managed to convert theirs but were then able to take advantage of any intercepts on defence.
From there, it was a case of who handled the ball best throughout the first three quarters which ended 17-4, 31-20, 39-36 in favour of the Thunderbirds, before the Lightning rallied to tie things at 50-50 at the end to send the game into overtime.
There seemed to be some level of confusion for both teams, neither remembering the rules of the overtime period. The Lightning was late to realise that the super shot was in play for the entirety of the overtime period, and the Thunder forgot there were two five-minute halves.
Fretwell took advantage of the supershot, as she nailed a few to put her team within reach, but the Thunderbirds showed no fear, courtesy of Frew and Aiken-George, who saw them to a four-goal win.
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