Netball: Silver Ferns draw their least favourite umpire

The Silver Ferns will reacquaint themselves with an umpire who has caused them grief in the past when the three-test series against England starts on Tuesday in Manchester.

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken admitted to surprise at seeing Jamaican Dalton Hinds as one of the three umpires named for the series.

The Silver Ferns' tour of Jamaica last year was thrown into controversy when the New Zealanders were left seething after Hinds dished out a rash of unfathomable penalties.

The controversy boiled over in the second test, in which the Silver Ferns suffered their first loss to Jamaica, when captain Julie Seymour accused Hinds of "blatant bias".

Seymour went on to describe Hinds' control of the test as being of a "disgusting standard".

Hinds was particularly severe on ace shooter Irene van Dyk, who was penalised an astonishing 11 times.

"Apparently there were no assessors there when we played [in Jamaica], but since then he [Hinds] has been awarded his International Umpiring Award by the international panel, who are neutral," said Aitken from the team's base in Wales.

"It is likely he will be at the world champs in July, so now is a good opportunity to work things through with him.

"I think it will be slightly different here than it was in that environment in Jamaica. But we have to get to read him a bit better so that we can get to play the game that we need."

Aitken said what happened in Jamaica was in a different "emotional environment" and in neutral territory things would change. She did not expect any backlash from Hinds.

The other umpires for the series are Anne Marie Dixon from Trinidad and Tobago and Scotland's Carolene Logan.

The Silver Ferns have only a couple of trainings under their belt before kicking off their whistle-stop tour with a warm-up game against Wales in Deeside this morning.

That will be followed by a second practice game against an England development squad in Manchester on Sunday morning.

Both the warm-up matches will be played over six quarters and are designed more as training than out-and-out competition games.

"The aim is just to get some match play and develop that familiarity with combinations, refresh ourselves with the English style and get everyone out there on court so we've got everyone available for the test series," Aitken said.

"Ideally at some point through the whole test series I'd like to get all 12 on court. That's part of bringing them away."

Silver Ferns: Irene van Dyk, Angela Mitchell (nee Evans), Belinda Colling, Adine Harper, Anna Rowberry (captain), Jenny-May Coffin, Lesley Nicol, Victoria Edward, Sheryl Clarke, Leana du Plooy, Vilimaina Davu, Anna Scarlett.

- NZPA