One high-profile series remains in limbo, but another could be on the horizon for the Silver Ferns.
The New Zealand national netball side will play a domestic series in October following the postponement of the Constellation Cup, which was set to be contested between New Zealand and the Australian Diamondslater this year.
The Cup is yet to be rescheduled, but January and February is the mooted date range, leaving the Ferns without any international netball on their schedule.
However, Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua remains confident something outside of the all-Kiwi series will eventuate before the end of the year, after plenty of discussions with Australia and England.
Of the two nations, a Taini Jamison series with England looks the more promising, with Taurua saying they would ideally have a series organised before Christmas.
"There's still a lot of work to do… so we're not at the stage of announcing anything," she told Newstalk ZB's D'Arcy Waldegrave. "The good thing is negotiations are still on the table.
"I think with the timing and possibly what England netball has to do, I think they have Jamaica as well in their sights… the timing will probably be around end of October-November. There's a lot of work done behind the scenes, hopefully if we get it all ticked off [then] that should fit quite nicely in our international calendar."
The Silver Ferns remain hopeful of scheduling an international match or series in 2020. Photo / Photosport
Taurua says plenty of water needs to pass under the bridge, but the fact they are having constant conversation with the necessary parties paints a positive picture for international netball taking place soon.
She expects when organising an international series with Australia or England, they would have plenty of leverage due to the country's relative success with combatting the Covid-19 pandemic.
"With New Zealand currently where we are and provided we meet our requirements for our sponsors - I feel we can take the upper hand or the higher ground and really work what we want in our international campaign."
Much like initial discussions that surrounded the Rugby Championship, New Zealand would likely be the preferred destination to host a series given the country's Covid-19 track record.
The pandemic has done its best at curtailing the Silver Ferns schedule for 2020. They have not contested a game or series since the Netball Nations Cup in January, and have played just four games in the last 11 months.
Even if no internationals can be played this year, 2021 will deliver some form of competition, with Taurua saying at least one Constellation Cup taking place next year can be "ticked off".
"That would be a given. Hopefully with all the Covid stuff we can work through the border restrictions," she adds.
For the meantime, a domestic series involving four nationally sourced teams – the New Zealand men's national side, a New Zealand A side and the New Zealand Under-21's - is all the Ferns have to prepare for. Taurua still sees it as a challenging series with plenty of benefits to reap.
"We have really good quality games… there is a positive coming out of it and hopefully we can still build our depth, and grow the capability within the next level underneath."
