Guscoth, who combines her role as a netball player with working as a doctor, will soon become even more familiar with the Australian sporting scene having moved last month from Team Bath to join Super Netball club Adelaide Thunderbirds.

The hosts, who took bronze in this event last year after defeating six-times winners New Zealand, have been runners-up on three of the last four occasions but have yet to win.

England, who defeated Jamaica 34-29 in last year's final, are the only other side apart from New Zealand to have claimed gold in this tournament since it started in 2009 as the International Netball Federation's version of Twenty20 cricket.

England will have the added impetus of having claimed a historic first Commonwealth gold thanks to a 52-51 victory over Australia on the Gold Coast, although the Australians beat them in last month's Quad Series event.

Guscoth is one of several Commonwealth winners who will be back seeking further glory Down Under at the Melbourne Arena.

Home hopes suffered a blow today as Matilda Garrett withdrew from the team after sustaining a low-grade quad strain at training over the weekend.

Replacement defender Tara Hinchliffe caught a last-minute flight yesterday and joined the pre-tournament training camp this morning.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Claire Kersten believes her team is once again ready to push for titles.

The mid-courter is part of an experienced Fast5 Ferns outfit looking to improve on last year's fourth place.

New Zealand is once again upbeat about the future following improvements made since the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

They pushed Australia during the recently-contested Constellation Cup and are hoping that form will continue into the Fast5 format.

Jamaica will seek to build on their experience of taking silver last year, while the other two places in the tournament will be taken by South Africa and Malawi.