Confident 'Sunshine Girls' target top two

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

With less then two-weeks to go before Jamaica's Sunshine Girls depart the island for their massive two-test series against Australia and New Zealand, head coach Connie Francis says she is very confident they can win both contests.

The Jamaicans will oppose Australia on August 8 and 15, respectively, before travelling to New Zealand where they will battle the hosts on August 18 and 21.

"I want good, consistent performances from these girls, because if we can go out there and compete, especially without our captain Simone (Forbes), I have no doubt that we can go out there and win these series," said Francis in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday.

The Sunshine Girls are still oozing with confidence, following their historic series-levelling wins over both sides last October on home soil, and are aware that victories over both teams could see them moving up in the ranking table. They are currently ranked fourth in the world.

The team's next big assignment will be the Commonwealth Games, which be held in India in October and according to Francis, she will also be using the series to assess the team before these games.

"If we win these matches, it will certainly help us to move up in the rankings, but our ultimate goal is to win at the Commonwealth Games in October," Francis said.

"This is good added practice games for us to assess Australia and New Zealand, to see what they have going into the Commonwealth Games," she said. "Our ultimate aim is to fine-tune the team to win the Commonwealth Games, and so we will also be using this series as a warm-up competition and also to give some of our young players some well-needed practice matches," Francis stated.

Simulation games

The tactician added that they are now in the final phase of their preparation and would be having a number of simulation games in the coming days.

"I am very pleased with how our preparations have gone, but I am a bit disappointed, not having a few of our senior players for this tour," Francis said. "However, I am really proud of what we have put in during the preparations, and the girls are now looking forward to both series."

Francis noted, "This is going to be a very difficult series, knowing that we are going in there with a rookie goal attack (Anna-Kay Griffiths), because we won't have Simone Forbes, but I know that victory is attainable for us against these teams."