Pendle’s Natalie Metcalf will be hoping to co-captain England to glory at the Netball World Cup next week.

The 30-year-old, who plays for Manchester Thunder and has 74 international caps, is part of the squad getting their campaign under way tonight at the tournament in Cape Town, South Africa.

England are in Pool B alongside Barbados, Malawi and Scotland.

There are 16 teams in total in four pools of four. The top three in each will progress to a second group phase of two sections of six teams.

The top two from those groups will then contest the semi-finals with the final taking place on August 6.

Wing or Goal Attack Metcalf, who captained England at last year’s Commonwealth Games, and her team-mates face Barbados tonight at 7pm UK time before a clash with Malawi tomorrow (5pm) and Scotland on Sunday (3pm) with the team tipped to progress deep into the competition.

Metcalf made her senior international debut for the Vitality Roses against Trinidad and Tobago in 2015 and since then, she has competed on the biggest stages and against the best sides in the world.

She has won medals at Europe Netball Championships, the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she helped England win their historic first gold medal at a major international competition.

As well as her international accolades, Metcalf has enjoyed domestic success in both England and Australia, playing for Leeds Carnegie, Yorkshire Jets, Manchester Thunder, Wasps and New South Wales Swifts - three-times winning Super League titles and twice picking up Suncorp Super Netball titles Down Under.

The BBC will show every World Cup match across TV, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website from the second group stage on July 31 up to and including the final on August 6, while Sky Sports have television rights for the opening weekend of pool matches.