England Netball name 21 players to full-time programme before home World Cup

England beat Australia in the final second to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in April

England netball have selected 21 players for their 2018-2019 full-time programme in the build up to next year's World Cup in Liverpool.

The list includes 11 of the 12 players who won Commonwealth Gold in April, with defender Eboni Beckford-Chambers opting out due to work commitments.

Fellow Team Bath defender Layla Guscoth is included for the first time having not played for England since 2016.

Additionally, 11 players are named in the England futures programme.

England have moved up to second in the world rankings for the first time, overtaking New Zealand to sit behind world number one side Australia.

In January, England Netball chief executive Joanna Adams admitted the governing body are struggling to fund the national team past 2019.

Sport England awarded the governing body a total of £16.9m in 2017, with £3m of that for the national side.

But Adams said that funding will only keep the full-time athlete programme - launched in 2016 - going until 2019, when England host a home World Cup.

Last season, England Netball awarded 23 full-time contracts and 12 of those played overseas in Australia and New Zealand.

For the 2018-19 season, just six of the 21 play in Australia, while six will feature in Saturday's Superleague final between defending champions Wasps and Loughborough Lightning.

In the 2018-19 international season, England will play two editions of the Quad Series, defend their Fast5 title in Melbourne, play a home Series against Uganda in November 2018 and host the Netball World Cup in Liverpool in July 2019.

England Roses: Ama Agbeze, Summer Artman, Eleanor Cardwell, Ella Clark, Jade Clarke, Beth Cobden, Kadeen Corbin, Sasha Corbin, Iona Darroch, George Fisher, Jodie Gibson, Layla Guscoth, Serena Guthrie, Natalie Haythornthwaite, Joanne Harten, Helen Housby, Gabriella Marshall, Geva Mentor, Chelsea Pitman, Natalie Panagarry, Francesca Williams.

England Futures: Rebekah Airey, Halimat Adio, Amy Carter, Brittany Coleman, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, Hannah Joseph, Leah Kennedy, Vicki Oyesola, Paige Reed, Olivia Tchine, Razia Quashie.