Vitality Nations Cup: Amy Carter impresses on first cap for England Roses

With just less than six minutes left of England’s Test match in Nottingham, Amy Carter realised her childhood dream. She stepped onto court, gained her first international cap for the Vitality Roses and took her chance with both hands.

Carter replaced Jade Clarke, a stalwart who was making her 173rd appearance for her country, and arrived to play out the Test against New Zealand alongside Chelsea Pitman, Natalie Haythornthwaite and George Fisher in England’s attack end.

The Centre immediately focused on a first defensive centre pass after cooly finding Pitman on her first attacking one and making the crowd roar in appreciation after.

Carter pounded on a Fran Williams’ tip before gaining her own one on the circle edge – Williams returned the favour and collected the ball.

The 21-year-old was not finished there though, as she showed her fitness to constantly drive through New Zealand’s zone and looked to be at home on a Test court.

“Amy came on our Australia and New Zealand tour and performed consistently well against both styles of play,” head coach Jess Thirlby said ahead of the competition.

“She’s in our Futures programme. Futures is very much for those athletes, predominately younger athletes, who aren’t yet in a position where they can commit full-time to the Roses programme.

“In Amy’s case she’s studying medicine and similar to the likes of Layla (Guscoth) and Eboni (Usoro-Brown) who have gone before her, I have the utmost respect for athletes who are able to juggle such demands.

“Being in the Futures programme, in particular at this stage of the cycle, it’s never a reflection of their ability it more just circumstantial.”

“I feel like Amy has pushed her way in, and rightly so,” Thirlby added when she first announced her squad for the Vitality Nations Cup.

“It’s a big step up and I’m sure she knows that but she’s in there on merit.

“For a player who has come from a defensive role, she has a natural ability in the attacking end. Her vision when it comes to feeding our shooters is a real skill of hers.”

Following her strong five mintues on court in Nottingham, Carter’s own head coach praised her contribution. The Australian Diamonds’ head coach, Lisa Alexander, also took note of the 21-year-old’s work.

“We’ve had training matches against Amy Carter because we’ve played against Manchester Thunder, so I’ve actually known about her [for a while],” Alexander said.

“I wasn’t surprised to see her really adapting her game to the chaotic nature of international netball. She’s a great competitor and we saw that out there.”

Finding England’s next go-to Centre, and also GK, have been topics of real focus for Tamsin Greenway in both her Sky Sports columns and during her analysis on air.

The Roses have relied heavily on Serena Guthrie and Geva Mentor in the last few years – which isn’t a bad thing given their world-class capabilities – but with both having taken or taking time out, it’s time for others to step up.

Head coach Thirlby has shared that she will take a “slightly different approach” for the Roses’ next match against South Africa.

The outfit will take to court on Wednesday evening in Birmingham after New Zealand have faced Jamaica.

Whether Carter will be selected or not remains to be seen, however, she certainly did all that she could in order to put her best foot forwards in Nottingham and had a first cap to remember.

Sky Sports is your home of netball – every moment of the Vitality Nations Cup is being shown on air and streamed on YouTube. The second match-day is on January 22, with England versus South Africa and New Zealand against Jamaica.

(c) Sky Sports 2020: Vitality Nations Cup: Amy Carter impresses on first cap for England Roses