Netball: Plummer to revamp Diamonds

Australian netball coach Norma Plummer will revamp her fatigued team for the second test with Jamaica in Kingston after skipper Sharelle McMahon led her side to a dramatic 53-51 win in a very physical opening international.

The world champion Diamonds yesterday trailed in the final quarter, but fought back to take the lead in the two-test series. Veteran shooter McMahon led by example, nailing 26 of her 30 attempts for an 86 per cent success rate. Fellow shooter Susan Pratley converted 27 of her 35 shots.

"It was a very tough encounter and it was just as well our shooters were on the ball because we could have been in strife," Plummer said.

"Sharelle was probably player of the night, she did a fantastic job."

The Australian shooters needed to be on their mettle as Jamaican ace Romelda Aiken was also prolific and got good support from Simone Forbes.

Fresh from finishing above Australia in the inaugural World Netball Series in Manchester last weekend, Jamaica led 17-16 at the first change.

Australia played their best netball in the second quarter and got out to a five-goal lead, which was cut to two by halftime. The teams were level at 39-39 in a nip and tuck third quarter.

While Jamaica had the best part of a week to recover and prepare following the Manchester tournament, Australia had only a couple of days break after winning a one-off test against England last Tuesday. "I think tomorrow I've got to take the punt and throw some other players out there, because otherwise it's extremely difficult to expect to back up like that two days in a row at that standard," Plummer said. "They certainly had their recovery time. We had to get on a plane at 4am after the England game."

Plummer made just one change to her starting seven from the England test, bringing Susan Fuhrmann back at goal keep in place of Bianca Chatfield. She retained the line-up for the entire game, but reported no injury issues after the match.

The Silver Ferns play the first of a two-test series against Jamaica on Wednesday.

- AAP