England Netball coach Tracey Neville has welcomed the addition of Chelsea Pitman
Tuesday 24 January 2017 16:17, UK
England head coach Tracey Neville has welcomed the addition of Australian-born Chelsea Pitman to the international fold with The Roses ahead of the upcoming Netball Quad Series which starts in South Africa this weekend, live on Sky Sports Mix.
Pitman, who represented Australia when they were crowned world champions in 2011, has vast experience playing in the world's top netball league, the ANZ Championship.
The versatile player, who can play at goal attack, centre and wing attack, moved to Manchester Thunder two years ago and now the 28-year-old from Sydney has opted to defect permanently to England to continue her progress under Neville.
And head coach Neville is pleased that Pitman has made the decision to play for The Roses as they prepare face the Australian Diamonds, New Zealand Silver Ferns and South Africa Proteas as the top four of the five teams in the world rankings go into battle.
"It was a massive decision that she made, but she's always an athlete that wants to be the best," Neville told Sky Sports News.
"She always wants to compete against the best and she wants to be better than what she is at the moment, so basically she's going for that extra 101 per cent - this is the way she does it and she wants to compete for her country and at the moment she's got an opportunity to do that with the England side."
Pitman says she is determined to produce some good performances and help England gain some important momentum ahead of their clash against the best team in the world.
"I hope to think that I've slotted myself in easily," said Pitman. "I'm just excited and honoured to be here and those first two weeks of training, I don't think I've been that sore in a long time, so I'm just loving it and enjoying it. I can't wait to get my first cap for England.
"We've got two really tough games prior to taking on Australia, so hopefully we can put out some good performances and get some wins under our belts. I just want to beat them, I just want to smash them and play well. They're the best in the world and obviously we want to compete against them."
Don't forget, Sky Sports will broadcast every game from the yearly Quad Series. England take on South Africa in Durban on Saturday 28th January, live on Sky Sports Mix from 2.45pm, but before that Australia face New Zealand at 12.45pm.
Last year's inaugural Quad Series saw world champions Australia come out on top over New Zealand, England and South Africa. Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price. Hurry, offer ends December 4!
Follow us on twitter @SkySportsNetball & through our website www.skysports.com/netball & mobile apps.
By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices.
