Romelda Aiken and Simone Forbes ... captain of the Sunshine Girls. - file photos

Jamaica's Sunshine Girls will face hosts and arch-rivals England in their opening match of their three-Test series today in the London Arena, starting at 11:30 a.m. (Ja time).

The Jamaicans, who are ranked fourth in the world, are still full of confidence after they defeated the English 53-52 to capture the bronze medal at the 2007 World Netball Championships (WNC) in Auckland, New Zealand.

However, based on a revised ranking system, they are rated fourth in the world on the basis of an earlier 3-0 home series loss to England.

Prior to the trip, Simone Forbes, captain of the Sunshine Girls, said that despite the cold temperatures to which most of the girls are unaccustomed, she is confident that they are going to get the job done.

"We will have to contend with the weather but England just can't beat us," said Forbes. "I don't think that we will be focusing on the cold and any other obstacle that we might and will come up against, because it is just about the game."

Under-21 players

The Connie Francis coach-team also includes four members of the country's Under-21 players, which is currently preparing for the World Youth Championships to be held in Cook Islands in July. They are Christina Solmon, Vanessa Walker, Sateva Taylor and Malysha Kelly.

Forbes noted that despite the absence of a number of their senior players, who played against England in the last WNC, she is confident the younger players can get the job done.

"I think that we have a good balance in this team, despite their inexperience; these young players are very good players, and so it shouldn't be very difficult for us playing together as a team," said Forbes.

Former captain Elaine Davis, Nichala Gibson, Kasey Evering, Sheron Wiles and Shasha-Gaye Henry are the senior players who are absent from the touring team.

The rest of the team includes vice-captain Nadine Bryan, Romelda Aiken, Nicole Aiken, Christina Solmon, Althea Byfield, Sabrina Spence, Paula Thompson and Tracey-Ann Robinson.

The second match in the series will be played at the Sky Dome in Coventry on Tuesday, and the third, two days later, at the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham.