Five minutes gone in the first quarter and England goal keeper Razia Quashie has been working overtime to get in the contest.

Driving along the baseline, Quashie had a couple of deflections before she got two hands to it, but the umpire rules it’s Diamonds ball.

SCORE: Australia lead 6-5

First defensive play of the game comes less than two minutes in from Australia through goal defence Sunday Aryang, as the Roses tried to feed their shooters. But the Roses pinch possession back and carry onto goal.

17 seconds into the first quarter.

Sophie Garbin gets the first goal through for Australia, 1-0.

It’s a special night for Beth Cobden who makes her return to the international scene after a horror run of injuries, including multiple ACL ruptures. At 31-years-old she says she wasn’t sure she’d ever get an opportunity in the red dress again. But here she is! Let’s hope it is a game to remember for the wing defence.

Many fans were hoping 22-year-old Kangaroo Island product Georgie Horjus would make her debut in her home city! The two-time Adelaide Thunderbirds champion has been in ripping form the last two seasons and offers a genuine swing in goal attack and wing attack, which the team is missing now former vice captain Steph Fretwell has retired.

Horjus was rewarded with her very first Diamonds contract this year and it would have been a great story to see her get on court in Adelaide! The local crowd would have definitely got behind her. Instead, it seems she will have to bide her time.

England have named their starting players and it’ll be up to the experienced heads of Super Netball stars Helen Housby (NSW Swifts) and Eleanor Cardwell (Melbourne Mavericks) to lead from the front of the court. Especially in the absence of captain Nat Metcalf who was ruled out of the series a couple of days ago for medical reasons. But will we see a debut for Lois Pearson off the bench?

Australia are as expected, really. All seven of these players took the court against England in their last meeting at the Nations Cup. The only changes that have been forced come through the omissions of injured defenders Jo Weston and Courtney Bruce. But all of these players are very experienced. There is a potential debutant for Australia too in Rudi Ellis who could become Diamonds #192 starting on the bench.

 It’s hard to believe seven weeks have passed since we were last in the city of churches for the Super Netball Grand Final. If you’d like to catch up on how that played out, you can find our match report and analysis from the game here:

It’s 1 vs 3 in the world but the Diamonds have been the far more dominant side of these two countries.

Of the 87 Tests they’ve ever played, Australia have won 78, England have won 8 and only one match has been drawn.

Meanwhile, the Roses have only won one of the last five meetings. They shocked the word number one ranked side in the Netball World Cup group stage in Cape Town last year, so they are capable of victory, but they need to believe it themselves. They have been known to drop their heads against the Aussies if they don’t get their way early.

For instance, in their most recent meeting in the final of the Nations Cup this January, Australia won 69-49 in Leeds.

As Ian has pointed out, the Australia vs England series does sound quite BORING! Most of the other international series in netball have special names. Some are named after legendary players.

The Chelsea Pitman Series is one suggestion we could get behind! Pitman only retired from all forms of elite netball this year after a 20-year career at the top.

In 2024 she played in the Super Netball league for the Giants – marking her ninth domestic club across three countries.

Pitman tallied 15 caps for the Diamonds and won a gold medal with them at the 2011 Netball World Cup in Singapore.

Before switching allegiance to the Roses, where she won a gold medal at 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, silver at 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, and bronze at the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool.

All up Pitman reached 52 caps for England.

Hello and welcome to ABC Sport’s live blog coverage of the Australian and England netball Test series.

Game 1 between the Diamonds and Roses is taking place at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and the game will get underway at 7pm AEST. I’ll be updating you on all the action as it happens.

It’ll be the first match of the international window for the home team before they face New Zealand in the Constellation Cup next month. And it’s an important time as we enter a new World Cup cycle and head coach Stacey Marinkovich looks to build her team for the 2027 tournament.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.