Diamonds Head coach Lisa Alexander has announced the team of players she will be taking to Liverpool for the Netball World Cup.

Australia will be looking to defend the title won in Sydney four years ago, and after a narrow loss on the Gold Coast in the 2018 Commonwealth Games final Alexander is keen to prove her side is still the world's best.

As a result, team members have been picked on form in the domestic Super Netball league, with vice-captain Gabi Simpson missing out on selection and Kim Ravaillion also omitted.

Simpson has been battling with a groin injury, but played the last two rounds of Super Netball with the Queensland Firebirds — winless and currently last on the ladder.

Gabi Simpson's groin injury has counted against her. ( AAP: Craig Golding )

Instead of sticking with Simpson and allowing her to work through that niggle in the Diamonds camp, selectors have given Giants defender Jamie-Lee Price the nod in the WD bib.

Vixens midcourter Liz Watson will take also over the vice-captaincy.

It seems Alexander — similar to NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler — has done away with the old rugby league Origin method, where players are picked based on loyalty and their ability to perform on that stage in the past.

In this case, it means the Diamonds team lacks the same familiarity with some of its main opposition at international level.

Diamonds squad: Caitlin Bassett (captain, Giants), April Brandley (Magpies), Kelsey Browne (Magpies), Courtney Bruce (Fever), Paige Hadley (Swifts), Sarah Klau (Swifts), Caitlin Thwaites (Vixens), Gretel Tippett (Firebirds), Jamie-Lee Price (Giants), Liz Watson (vice-captain, Vixens), Jo Weston (Vixens), Steph Wood (Lightning).

The average age of the Australian side now sits at 26, with a stark difference in experience to the 2015 squad that already had 451 Test appearances under the belt before going on to win the title.

Only Caitlin Bassett, Paige Hadley and Caitlin Thwaites played in that World Cup, meaning they will be heavily relied upon to guide the rest through the pressure of the tournament.

However, with Super Netball now boasting 21 internationals spread over eight teams, the newest recruits are no stranger to the big names they will come up against in Liverpool.

Only three players from the 2015 World Cup winning side have kept their places. ( AAP: Paul Miller )

The Diamonds coaches have previously voiced their disapproval of so many international stars experiencing the Australian high-performance system, but it works both ways.

Youngsters Price and NSW Swift Sarah Klau (set to make her international debut) face up to English, Jamaican and New Zealand players on a week-to-week basis. That does not count for nothing.

While controversial, the decision to pick on form is smart in the current climate of the sport. The majority of the team was included in the January Quad Series anyway, where Australia only lost to England.

It makes sense to reward those already performing against the world's best and proves there is a genuine pathway for hard work at the domestic level.

Lisa Alexander is hugely supportive of her players, but won't compromise in the pursuit of World Cup glory. ( AAP: Craig Golding )

Especially for players like Paige Hadley, who fell out of the Australian side based on injury a couple of years ago and forced her way back into the team after not being named in the original squad.

Leading the Super Netball ladder and in red-hot contention for the title so early in the season, the Swifts contingent ensured they were simply too hard to overlook.

Four additional players will join the squad as training partners in the coming weeks, meeting up with the team at a five-day training camp in late June before travelling with the squad to Manchester in July.

The Netball World Cup begins on July 12. Australia will start in Group A alongside Northern Ireland, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.