Netball Quad Series: Geva Mentor returns to England Vitality Roses squad
England's experienced defender is part of the Roses squad named to take on Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in January's Quad Series; the competition is due to take place on January 15, 16, 18 and 19 at the Copper Box Arena and be shown live on Sky Sports
Monday 20 December 2021 19:14, UK
Geva Mentor returns to England's Vitality Roses squad for the forthcoming Netball Quad Series against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Mentor returns having last played for the Vitality Roses in New Zealand and being part of the side that claimed a historic series win over the Silver Ferns.
The 37-year-old defender, who made her international debut back in 2000, is joined by Eboni Usoro-Brown, Layla Guscoth and Stacey Francis-Bayman in the Roses' defensive end.
Serena Guthrie has once again been named as captain and Natalie Haythornthwaite takes the position of vice-captain. Fran Williams and Funmi Fadoju were not available for selection due to injury.
Subject to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Vitality Roses are due to host the Australian Diamonds, New Zealand's Silver Ferns and South Africa's SPAR Proteas at the Copper Box Arena in London over the course of four days in January.
Every match will be live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel. The four international teams will play a total of eight games across the series on January 15, 16, 18 and 19.
The Vitality Roses will be looking to build upon their recent series victory over Jamaica and these contests will be vital as they build towards 2022's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The Roses arrive in Birmingham as the defending champions after their triumph on the Gold Coast back in 2018.
"It is great to be able to name such a strong squad and to be welcoming back Geva to the team," the Vitality Roses head coach Jess Thirlby said.
"It is indicative of the talent that we have in the Roses programme and competition for places remains high, which is helping to drive the standards we know we will need to meet in order to compete with three of the best teams in the world.
"Whilst we are proud of the recent series wins in New Zealand and against Jamaica, which in turn is helping to build confidence, we are restless in our pursuit for better performances.
"The Netball Quad Series format certainly poses a much bigger challenge with multiple games against varying styles in quick succession and concluding with finals netball for the first time.
"Having never won the Quad Series we are under no illusion of how tough a challenge it will be and can't wait to get back on court and bring our fans world leading netball."
