England Netball's decision to send an under-strength squad to this year's Taini Jamison Trophy series against the Silver Ferns has been slammed as "disrespectful" by Netball New Zealand CEO Jennie Wyllie.
The Roses named their squad for the upcoming series this morning but it featured none of the 12 players who won England silver at this year's Netball World Cup and instead had seven potential debutants named amongst an inexperienced line up.
On top of that, the Roses also confirmed coach Jess Thirlby won't be with the side for the series either, leaving former Silver Fern and England assistant Liana Leota to temporarily lead them in the three Tests.
Wyllie told 1News she was floored by the announcement.
"Waking up this morning at the same time as our fans to hear this news was quite startling and a real surprise," Wyllie said.
"One of our team sent through the media release and my reaction I don't think is probably fit for TV... it's incredibly disappointing and quite disrespectful for our players and for us as an organisation and a country."
Wyllie said immediately after seeing the squad she attempted to contact England Netball via text and email but was yet to hear back from them.
Since then, she's had a "really colourful" discussion with Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua who will name her squad for the series next week - her first since New Zealand's disappointing fourth-place finish at this year's World Cup.
"It's a dangerous place for [England] to be testing their young, up-and-coming athletes who are likely going to be there at the next World Cup against a wounded Silver Ferns team," she said.
"It appears this was a predetermined rest period for their athletes but I do fail to believe that this isn't a prime opportunity to put those athletes out there, particularly ones that weren't tested at the World Cup, and play them against us, the Silver Ferns, who are still ranked No.2 in the world.
"I have no doubt that this will put some fire in the belly of both the team and management and they will go out there and put their best squad out there."
England's selections are similar to the decisions made by Jamaica last year, who also brought an under-strength side for the Taini Jamison series and ended up having to name two former internationals based in Australia as well as coach Connie Francis for the two games, which the Silver Ferns comfortably won.
Jamaica was fined $9800 by World Netball but Netball NZ suffered a significant financial loss with one of last year's games cancelled due to the Sunshine Girls' visa issues.
Wyllie said while ticket sales are "strong" for this year's series, she intends to contact World Netball about England's approach.
"Our fans expect teams to act with integrity and good faith and bring their best players and we're not going to see that.
"But what we do know is New Zealand is going to put a classy product out there and our respect for our own brand is what we can control."
Watch 1News at 6pm tonight for more from Kate Wells' interview with Jennie Wyllie and other New Zealand netball figures.
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