KEY POINTS:
The Silver Ferns expect to meet strong resistance in their bid to claim the number one spot in the world rankings, with a challenging international schedule planned for later this year.
The Ferns will face Australia twice in September at home, before playing a visiting England side in a three-test series in mid-October.
They will also play a return series against the Australians across the Tasman at the end of October, but those dates are yet to be confirmed as Netball Australia is still struggling to pin down venues.
While a lot of the focus will be on the matches against old foes Australia - the first meeting between the two sides since last year's World Championship final - the Ferns also have unfinished business against England.
In the last full international between the two sides in May last year, the Ferns recorded a shock 50-45 loss - their first at the hands of the English.
New Zealand are eager to avenge that loss with a strong showing in the October series, but coach Ruth Aitken said the ever-improving England side would be a tough proposition.
While both the Ferns and Australia have holes to fill in their squads after the retirement of key players, England have managed to retain their entire line-up from the World Champs.
"They're probably the best team in terms of not having any retirements, so they're going to be the most consistent," Aitken said.
The number of English players now plying their trade Downunder is also a scary thought for the Ferns coach. Six members of England's national squad, who are coached by former Diamonds coach Sue Hawkins, are playing in the ANZ Championship.
"I do think it's good for the competition and there's still learnings for us as well having them over here with players being exposed to their style. But I think for them they will be the big movers out of it all," Aitken said.
With such a challenging international calendar ahead and several new combinations to develop due to the unavailability of Adine Wilson, Temepara George and Jodi Brown, Aitken said the Ferns would have a more prolonged build-up to the series.
"We'll certainly be involved with more camps than we normally do," she said.
Meanwhile, Netball New Zealand has announced New World as its major sponsor.
The sponsorship is for three years, though Netball NZ chief executive Raelene Castle declined to say how much it is worth.
"It's a significant sum of money that enables us to continue with our programmes."
* SCHEDULE
Silver Ferns' home internationals:
NZ v AUSTRALIA
September 17 - Westpac Arena, Christchurch
September 20 - Vector Arena, Auckland
(return series to be played in Australia in late October)
NZ v ENGLAND
October 13 - Vector Arena, Auckland
October 15 - Edgar Centre, Dunedin
October 18 - Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North
