Beth Cobden has experienced the highs and lows of the Commonwealth Games and is passing on all her knowledge as England’s netball team continues a new era. 

The 32-year-old's Commonwealth debut saw her claim gold on the Gold Coast in 2018, before missing out on a home Games in 2022 as injury saw her selection for Birmingham reversed. 

With Glasgow 2026 now on the horizon, preparations are ramping up for another tilt at gold. 
“2018 was a dream, it couldn’t have gone any better, it is amazing that we have got that now, and no one can ever take it away,” the Lichfield native said. 

“2022 was the complete opposite. I went into the camp and did my calf and had to go home.  
“I think I was there for one night and packed my bags back up, that was heartbreaking. But that is what happens, that is sport, and it is brilliant that I have got another opportunity to potentially get out there and go again. 

“Getting picked and then not being able to go, it does make you feel like you haven’t achieved what you could have done or what you were going to have. 

“It is nice to feel like you can make up for it almost and have the opportunity to do it again, and if we could do the same as 2018, that would be incredible.” 

Only Cobden, Nat Metcalf and Helen Housby remain from the 2018 squad, but the new order is already making history with a first silver in 48 years at the Netball World Cup in 2023. 

And with Metcalf continuing her return from having her first child, Cobden has begrudgingly taken on the mantle of ‘grandma’ of the group. 

The mid-courter is the oldest player in England’s squad for their series against New Zealand, which begins on Saturday at the Copper Box Arena in London. 

With new names in the Roses’ squad like Jas Brown and Emma Rayner, it is a chance for the team to continue developing as they target two major finals in two years, beginning with the Commonwealth Games next summer. 

She added: “It is weird, sometimes I do think ‘how am I still here?’, I am like the grandma of the team, but it is nice.  

“Myself, Nat, Helen and Eleanor [Cardwell] always used to be the young ones. We had such amazing people ahead of us, and I feel like I have learned such amazing things from them in how they played and how they led.  

“It is really cool now to be the ones to pass that on to the next generation because you do just learn so much from the ones that go before you.” 

England face off against the Silver Ferns in a three-match series, with two games in London this weekend, it then concludes in Manchester on Wednesday. 

New Zealand arrive fresh from pushing Commonwealth and world champions Australia all the way in the Constellation Cup, drawing the four-game series 2-2 with the Diamonds triumphing 12-11 in a series decider. 

“This series is really important for us,” Cobden said. “We’ve done so much training, we have been in camp for three months, which has been really great because we have had a fitness block, which is something we all wanted, so it is exciting to see how we go.  

“We have approached it slightly differently. Normally, we would have played them quite early in the season, so I am really looking forward to getting out there.  

“New Zealand are in form and have been playing loads of games, so when we go out there, we are going to get hit with it. But it will be exciting to see how we respond and what we can do.”