Netball: Jamaican hopes hinge on creaky knees

Elaine Davis. Herald file picture

Elaine Davis has had four knee operations. Picture / Getty Images

Ask most women what they would like to change about their bodies and you'll generally get a list as long as your arm.

Ask Jamaican goal shoot Elaine Davis and she'd definitely say her wonky old knees. Knees and netball don't combine well. Just ask Anna Rowberry. Rowberry ruptured knee ligaments in July last year against Australia and has only just made a full recovery after surgery.

The speed and physicality of the game, combined with the no-stepping rule, mean knees cop most of the force when players come to a grinding halt. Then there is all that jumping.

A number of players suffer some knee strain during their careers, but Davis must take the cake when it comes to malfunctioning knees.

The 29-year old has endured three operations on one knee and one on the other and until recently had seven screws holding one knee together.

"It is still not 100 per cent," she said. "But it is much better than it was."

Jamaica's hopes at next year's Commonwealth Games and the following year's world championships rely heavily on Davis and her knees.

If she gets to Fiji next year it will be her fourth world championships. She made her national debut in 1995 and played in the world championships in Birmingham the same year.

Four years later she was the third-highest scorer at the world championships in Christchurch, which led to her being named Jamaica's Sportswoman of the Year.

Her scoring ability caught the eye of the Auckland Diamonds, who invited her to New Zealand to play in the 2000 franchise competition.

"It was nerve-racking because it was the first time that I had been away from home," Davis said.

"Everything was a bit different. The training was a bit different, but they kind of worked with my style and I worked with theirs.

"The basic game doesn't change. People just come up with slightly different ways of doing things."

Returning home she went back to her old club Jamalco, which generally dominates the country's six-month club competition. Davis said the level of play and support does not match that of New Zealand but "it is still very good".

As one of the "oldies" in the Jamaican side, Davis will be charged with helping the younger members of her team prepare for the battle that is next year's Commonwealth Games.

Last week they were comfortably beaten by Australia 3-0 in test series. Tomorrow they begin a series against Barbados and the world champion Silver Ferns.

"I think the Australian team is going through a transition at the moment. They were not the Australia I am used to ... They were slower than what I am used to.

"Playing New Zealand is going to be a greater experience. They have been together a lot longer than Australia, and they are the world champions."

They also have a pretty handy shooter by the name of Irene van Dyk - generally regarded as the best in the world.

"There is something about her game that is admirable. I wouldn't say that I try to mirror her game because everyone has their own style of play and it doesn't make sense to change that."

Although goal keep is listed as her second preferred position, don't expect to see Davis against van Dyk: "I played goal keep during the world championships in Birmingham. ... That was when I had good knees."

Elaine Davis

* Born: September 21, 1976
* Height: 1.90m
* Positions: GS, GK
* Lives: Clarendon, Jamaica
* Club: Jamalco Netball Club
* Career highlights: 1995-2005 Jamaican team, 2000 Auckland Diamonds, member of world team who played the Silver Ferns.