England Netball during Team Englands Birmingham 2022 Immersion Camp - July 23rd 2022 in Loughborough. Photo by Chris Reynolds / Team England
Natalie Metcalf, Jade Clarke, Laura Malcolm and Imogen Allison will make up Team England’s midcourt at Birmingham 2022 this summer.
Metcalf will captain the team with Malcolm, who is set to make her Commonwealth Games debut, supporting her as part of the four-strong leadership group.
While Clarke will be representing Team England for a fifth time, Allison will be going to her first Games.
Describing the Team England midcourt unit, Head Coach Jess Thirlby said: “Midcourters are always traditionally pretty keen! They’re brilliant students as well and are surrounded by players with brilliant energy.”
Read on as Thirlby shares her insight into each member of the midcourt, including what they bring to the team as well as the wider netball community…
Nat Metcalf
Nat Metcalf is almost like netball’s girl next door – you know everybody wants to be her; everybody wants to be in her team and play alongside her.
It’s brilliant that she’s taken on that captaincy role – she’s been a fantastic leader in the group but she knows how to win.
We’ve all seen her roll of honour so far in really such a young international career so that’s pretty impressive.
Jade Clarke
I’m a very lucky coach and the team are a very lucky team to be able to draw upon not just Jade’s experience but her team-first attitude.
To be able to say we’ve got the most-capped player in the world and she’s going to her fifth Commonwealth Games is incredibly special.
There's only one @jadeyclarke 👑🌹#NetballQuadSeries2022 https://t.co/yAxfyG9ytC pic.twitter.com/rCmO6jP14a
— England Netball (@EnglandNetball) January 17, 2022
She’s proven that she can not only change games but bring her team along with her.
Laura Malcolm
Laura is a positive, hardworking and highly motivated member of the team.
She has a natural ability in knowing how to get the best out of those around her and she’s proven her ability to be a leader throughout training and previous international competitions.
She would say herself she is the biggest netball geek so between her and I, we enjoy geeking out together!
Imogen Allison
She has been one of our young, up and coming stars over the last couple of years and this is a fantastic reward for the effort and progress she’s made over the past few seasons.
She has proven her ability to make a great impact in games, is a natural ball winner and a brilliant carrier of ball.
She’s got a mature head on her shoulders, and I know she’ll grab the opportunity with both hands.
The Team England squad will start their Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games campaign, as they look to defend their 2018 title, on Friday 29 July.
Here’s a guide to the competition, including how you can follow all the action.
If you’re new to our sport and want to have a go yourself, we have programmes for everyone aged 5 to 95 from Bee Netball for children, to Back to Netball for those returning, to Walking Netball, a slower version of the game we love. Through the netball finder on our homepage, simply select play and enter your postcode and you’ll find a variety of sessions in your area.
