Australia have named an intimidating line-up to play New Zealand's Tall Ferns in the first women's basketball Oceania Championship match in Auckland on Wednesday.
London Olympic quartet Lauren Jackson, Laura Hodges, Belinda Snell and Jenni Screen lead a squad strong on international experience, although teammate Abby Bishop was ruled out with an ankle injury earlier this week.
With only one qualification spot available to the Oceania region, the trans-Tasman series takes on added significance, and coach Brendan Joyce is eager to secure the Opals' passage to next year's women's world championship in Turkey.
"We're very excited about the games coming up and you can tell around the squad that the girls are itching to play," Joyce said.
"I think we've put together a very good team that has a mixture of experienced international players and young players making their way."
The return match of the home-and-away series is scheduled for August 18 in Canberra.
Australia: Natalie Burton, Cayla Francis, Laura Hodges, Natalie Hurst, Lauren Jackson, Tess Madgen, Jennifer Screen, Belinda Snell, Marianna Tolo, Kristen Veal, Kelly Wilson, Hanna Zavecz.
