THE 2023 Netball World Cup is almost here, and to help count down to the tournament, Rookie Me Central will be previewing all the competing teams and seeing how they might fair at the tournament.

Today’s focus is the Barbados Bajan Gems.

HISTORY OF BARBADOS AT THE NETBALL WORLD CUP

Barbados appeared in its first Netball World Cup way back in 1979 where it finished eighth overall.

Since then, the Bajan Gems have reached a career-high sixth in 1987 at Glasgow, with another seventh placed finish in Jamaica back in 2003. The remaining six World Cups saw the Bajan Gems land outside the Top 10, with a 12th placed finish in Liverpool Barbados’ most recent position.

RECENT HISTORY

Barbados’ most recent major international tournament was the Commonwealth Games last year, where they finished 12th. Unfortunately coming in as the lowest ranked team at the tournament, it was always going to be tricky, but the Bajan Gems were competitive against Wales, only going down by 16 goals.

A 32-goal loss to Trinidad and Tobago in the playoff sealed their 12th placed finish. Prior to that, they played a number of friendlies against Scotland and Isle of Man, losing to the Thistles by 42 and 39 goals, before triumphing over Isle of Man by 30 goals.

KEY PLAYERS

Two key players that have made the switch from England to Barbados for the tournament are Netball Super League (NSL) talents, Kadeen and Sasha Corbin. That should strengthen the overall depth of the squad, which has always had some quality options up respective ends, with just the midcourt being the question mark.

Latonia Blackman is an ever-green veteran with great experience, while Brianna Holder is another player who is more than accustomed to international action. Throw in the likes of Faye Agard and Tonisha Rock-Yaw and there are a variety of players who can have an impact on the international stage.

BARBADOS FIXTURE (start times local)

Friday 28th July – 8pm – England

Saturday 29th July – 4pm – Scotland

Sunday 30th July – 11am – Malawi

BARBADOS SQUAD

Faye Agard, Kimani Archer, Latonia Blackman, Kadeen Corbin, Sasha Corbin, Brianna Holder, Teresa Howell, Victoria Monerville, Tonisha Rock-Yaw, Akeena Stoute, Tamara Trotman, Damia Walrond

Reserves: Carla Boyce, Amanda Knight, Jada Smith