Jamaica will take on the Silver Ferns for the Taini Jamison Trophy without several of the stars that helped them to Commonwealth Games silver medals at Birmingham this year.
Notably, shooter Jhaniele Fowler and defender Shamera Sterling will miss the three-test New Zealand tour with university commitments, while several others are nursing injuries from the Games campaign and haven't been cleared for a return to play.
Fowler, 34, is well known to NZ netball fans, after making 71 appearances for Southern Steel in the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, before transferring to West Coast Fever in 2018 and helping them to their first Super Netball crown this year.
Of the 'Sunshine Girls' outfit that faced the Silver Ferns in the Birmingham semi-final, only three - captain Shimona Nelson, vice-captain Latanya Dean and midcourt Adean Thomas - will make the trip south to defend the trophy they won for the first time in 2018.
Five of the 12-player travelling squad - Abigale Sutherland, Theresa Beckford, Kimone Shaw, Quannia Walker and Mischa Creary - are in line for debuts.
After upsetting Australia in pool play and the Kiwis in the semis, Jamaica achieved their highest-ever Commonwealth Games finish, ultimately losing to the Diamonds in the final.
But both teams will enter the Jamison series with key players missing. After leading the Silver Ferns at Birmingham, midcourt Gina Crampton will take the rest of the year off netball.
NZ coach Dame Noeline Taurua has the luxury of recalling Ameliaranne Ekenasio as captain, with the World Cup-winning shooter missing the last 12 months of international play on maternity leave.
Defender Jane Watson is another still returning from recent childbirth, while defender Karen Burger is recovering from foot surgery.
Jamaica: Gezelle Allison, Mischa Creary, Shimona Nelson (c), Amanda Pinkney, Tafiya Hunter, Abigale Sutherland, Adean Thomas, Quannia Walker, Theresa Beckford, Abbyegail Linton, Kimone Shaw, Latanya Wilson
Join us at 4pm Saturday for live updates of the first Silver Ferns v Jamaica Taini Jamison test
