Netball: Aussie `no' to neutral umpires

By Suzanne McFadden

The showdown between the Silver Ferns and Australia next week will not be controlled by neutral umpires, despite Netball New Zealand's concerns following the Commonwealth Games final.

New Zealand umpire Joan Hodson and Australia's Janelle Derrington will whistle the one-off test in Christchurch tomorrow week.

Netball New Zealand had asked its Australian counterpart to consider changing the agreement on internal umpires for Fisher and Paykel Cup matches between the two countries, but All Australia Netball did not want to play ball.

"Our preference was for neutral umpires," said NNZ chief executive Alastair Snell, "but we couldn't reach an agreement on that."

Sparks flew following the netball final at the Commonwealth Games last September over some of the interpretations of the Australian umpire.

"We weren't happy about it. It's very much an issue that is under debate and will continue to be under debate," Snell said.

"But we're happy that both umpires for this game have international awards. It deserves to have the best umpires in the world."

Hodson, a former Silver Fern, has a hectic week ahead. She will control the South Africa-England test in England on Monday before flying home for the Christchurch test.

If there is a full house in the new Christchurch stadium next Saturday night it will be the largest crowd at an indoor sporting event in New Zealand's history.

The stadium's capacity for this test is 7000. The previous biggest netball crowd was 5500 at a New Zealand-Australia test at Mystery Creek, in Hamilton.

Snell said more than 5000 tickets had already been sold for the match.