Diamonds coach Alexander extends deal

Australia national netball team coach Lisa Alexander will serve a record 10th straight season in the position after signing a one-year contract extension.

The new deal takes Alexander past next year's World Cup and through to the end of the 2020 campaign.

The Diamonds deal will make Alexander Australia's longest consecutively serving head coach, having held the role since 2011.

She will share the record for most seasons coached with Jill McIntosh, who was in charge from 1995-2003, after also having held the post in 1992.

There is also an option to extend Alexander's tenure until after the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

"I am thrilled to be offered an extension to my current contract," she said.

"It is heartening to know that I have the support of Netball Australia to continue with the Diamonds on our journey to be the world's best high performance program."

Alexander guided the Diamonds to a World Cup win at home in 2015, the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medal in Glasgow and a silver medal four years later on the Gold Coast.

The Diamonds will start the next edition of the Quad Series on Saturday with a match against South Africa in Auckland.

They then return home for games against England in Newcastle next Wednesday and New Zealand in Melbourne on September 23.

A four-match Constellation Cup series against the Silver Ferns in October rounds off a hectic schedule of seven Tests in less than five weeks.