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Jade Clarke targets 20 years of service for England netball as she prepares for duty at Nations Cup

Jade Clarke hopes to retain place in Roses side through to 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games - PAUL COOPER
Jade Clarke hopes to retain place in Roses side through to 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games - PAUL COOPER

Jade Clarke, England’s record appearance maker, has set herself the task of completing 20 years of international netball by retaining her place in the Roses side through to the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Clarke, who has racked up a mammoth 172 caps since her debut in 2002, is one of only a few big-name players to make themselves available for England’s Nations Cup campaign which begins against world champions New Zealand in Nottingham on Sunday.

The likes of Serena Guthrie, Helen Housby, Jo Harten, Geva Mentor and Eboni Usoro-Brown are all taking time away from international netball, but Clarke has thrown herself straight back into the fray and told Telegraph Sport she wants to keep going for her fifth Commonwealth Games, when she would be just two months shy of her 39th birthday.

“Before the World Cup [last year] I left my options open,” she said. “I wasn’t ready to answer the question of my future plans yet.

“With my age I knew a lot of people would be expecting me to retire but the way I was playing and how much I was enjoying it, it didn’t feel right. I’ve always been one to try and push the boundaries and I don’t way age to be a factor.

The Nations Cup will be the first major test of head coach Jess Thirlby’s reign - Credit: Andrew Fox
The Nations Cup will be the first major test of head coach Jess Thirlby’s reign Credit: Andrew Fox

“I feel good, I feel fit and I feel fast so why not keep going as long as I can? The next Commonwealth Games is in Birmingham so I would love to go there and I’ll keep trying as hard as I can.

“But if next season is the end for me then I’ve had a really good journey. I just want to give it a crack and see whether I can do it. I’ve had a great career.”

The Nations Cup will be the first major test of head coach Jess Thirlby’s reign after she guided a young squad to a 2-1 series victory over South Africa before Christmas. She has set her side a minimum goal of making the final in a four-way competition that also features Jamaica and South Africa.

The difficulty comes in attempting to balance so much inexperience, with only three of Thirlby’s squad possessing more than 50 caps. But Clarke, who has now worked under six England head coaches, says the high number of new faces has created an eagerness for people to prove themselves while many big names are absent.

“When I came in, I didn’t know what to expect because it felt like a brand new group,” she said. “But you can sense the ambition in the air.

“Everyone wants to get on that court because everyone is so competitive. Everyone wants to grab those opportunities to play.

“It keeps me young as well, so it ups my game because I have to compete with them to stay on the court.”