KEY POINTS:
If England are to maintain their reputation as a genuine force in international netball they will need to perform strongly in next week's three-test series against the Silver Ferns.
Over the past 18 months English netball has undergone somewhat of a resurgence, which was underlined by their historic win over the Silver Ferns in May last year.
The result proved that the days when New Zealand and Australia simply had to turn up to beat England are long gone.
But England's poor performances in their recent series across the Tasman suggests they still have a long way to go if they are to truly challenge Australia and New Zealand's dominance of the international game.
The talent is there, the consistency and execution is not.
With the injury-hit Diamonds still in a rebuilding phase following a number of retirements after last year's World Champs, England would have considered Aussies ripe for the picking.
They came close in the opening test in Newcastle, suffering a narrow 42-39 loss to Australia. But despite being given their opportunities on Wednesday, England never looked like winning the second test in Adelaide.
England were delivered a wealth of possession by their star defensive line but they squandered it with poor option-taking on attack and an inability to finish off in the shooting circle.
The English shooters returned a dismal 62 per cent accuracy rate in Wednesday's match and should they continue to shoot in the 60s they can expect to be similarly punished by the Ferns next week.
England will be bolstered by the return of first-choice goal-attack Pamela Cookey for the New Zealand leg of the tour. She will need to inject some confidence into the England attack if they are to match last year's heroics and upset the Silver Ferns.
