When Sara Bayman sat down in the studio with Caroline Barker to commentate on the Commonwealth Games netball final for the BBC in April last year, they relaxed and joked that they could do what they liked because no one would be paying attention. With a 3.02am GMT start time, they expected England’s fight for gold against Australia, ranked No 1 in the world, would quietly fly under the radar.
Instead, remarkably, the Roses overturned a four-point deficit in the final quarter to earn a 52-51 win that shook the sport and sparked scenes of celebration that would air across the world. “Australia expected to win,” reflects Bayman, a former England international. “It’s a massive sport there. I don’t think anyone was aware at the time of how big it was getting over here.”
As the game was played the messages started to come in, through the BBC, through social media and from the British press corps on the Gold Coast. “Everyone was a little bit: ‘Whoa, something really big is happening here.’ I think that a lot of the players were surprised when they came home at just how far they had reached because they expected it to be on the back page, not front‑page news.”
Momentum was on their side. Tracey Neville’s Roses had pulled off a similarly dramatic comeback against Jamaica in the semi-finals, going ahead with one second to spare to win 56-55. But Australia – who have won seven out of the last nine World Cups and had shared the five previous Commonwealth golds with New Zealand – were a very different proposition.
“I think it’ll be looked upon as the pivotal moment for netball,” says Bayman. “England were always third or fourth, always in a bronze medal match. The top two of Australia/New Zealand just dominated world netball. And I think everyone was getting a little bit bored of international netball because of that.
“England winning just shook everything up. And I think other countries were inspired by that as well. So now you look at South Africa, Jamaica, some of the African nations – Uganda and Malawi – genuinely challenging because now people believe that they can. And so international netball is better for it, unless you’re Australian,” she says with a laugh.
Bayman’s first season as head coach of Loughborough Lightning ended on Saturday, with defeat to Team Bath in the Superleague third-fourth play-off at the Copper Box (Manchester Thunder took the title, beating Wasps). Now she has July to look forward to, when England welcomes the world of netball to Liverpool for the first World Cup since the Roses inflicted a defeat that would mark a seismic shift in the sport. “There’s a huge amount of momentum,” says Bayman. “And there’s a pressure on England to do well in order to keep that momentum going.
“Regardless of how much you know about netball, they’re going to be fantastic matches because everyone can beat each other and we’ve never had that before in an international tournament.”
The manner of the win on the Gold Coast has bolstered interest. “If you go and win that game by 20 goals, people don’t really care as much. The fact that they had to win each game by one goal is a powerful message: that you don’t have to know anything about the sport, you don’t have to know why the whistle is being blown, or what rule is being infringed at any penalty pass, to know that it’s a fantastic game.
“That was a massive moment for netball, because that made people sit up and go: ‘Actually, I’ve really enjoyed this match, I’m not a netball fan but I kind of want to get on board a little bit.’”
The Netball Super League predictably benefits “when England are doing well”, says Bayman. With average attendances of around 1,000 per game the sport is one of the most watched women’s sports on a week-by-week basis in England. “It is up there. And I think netball needs to tap into the fact that so many people play, you know. The majority of girls play netball in school,” Bayman says. One advantage it has over other women’s sports is that there is only an elite women’s game. “Netball has been struggling with where to position itself. Do we position ourselves as a women-only sport? That’s our selling point but it doesn’t have to be exclusive. It is played by men and there’s mixed teams but at the elite level it’s the majority women.
“So it does have an advantage. You don’t have anything to compare it to. It’s its own game. Netball just needs to shout about it a little bit more, embrace what it is, own it and just go, yeah, great sport, that’s it.”
The Netball World Cup, in Liverpool from 12-21 July, is just one tournament in what is being pitched as a breakout summer for women’s sport, alongside football’s Women’s World Cup – where Tracey Neville’s brother Phil is coaching the England team – and other events, such as the Women’s Ashes. Is there a competitiveness there? “Everyone wants everyone to do well in terms of women’s sport,” replies Bayman. “But also you want to be the best women’s sport.
“You want to be the ones that win a World Cup, the ones that are ahead of the pack. So there is a level of competitiveness and I think the fact the Netball World Cup is at home is a huge advantage – people can engage with it on a physical level as well as just watching it on TV.
“So yeah, hopefully the Lionesses do it first [in the football] as they’re first up, but there’s definitely a competitiveness to it, wanting to get the best result of the lot. And there’s always going to be competitiveness when it’s Phil’s and Tracey’s teams.”
Sara Bayman is part of the BBC Netball World Cup presenting team. Change The Game celebrates a summer of live women’s sporting action
