Gerrard sustained the injury before the ANZ Championship preliminary final playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds and will have surgery immediately.

The unavailability of the 2008 Liz Ellis Diamond recipient will dent the experience of the Australian defence line who is also missing Bianca Chatfield and Laura Geitz. Geitz will miss the Holden Netball Test Series after breaking her hand at a selection camp earlier this month..

Diamonds coach Norma Plummer does not anticipate either Gerrard or Geitz will return for the 2009 international season but is excited about the opportunity it provides to some young players.

Australian 21/U representative and AIS scholarship holder Amy Steel will replace Gerrard in the match against the World Selection in Adelaide on Wednesday 2 September.

After Steel’s impressive performance at the World Youth Netball Championships (WYNC) in the Cook Islands, Plummer is thrilled to give the 20-year-old her first opportunity in the Diamonds.

“It is a brilliant opportunity for Amy,” Plummer said.

“I think she is a hugely talented player and she put out a great performance against Silver Ferns shooter Paula Griffin at the WYNC.

“I’ve been looking at targeting her for quite some time and I am very happy about including her in the line-up for Wednesday’s match.”

“We have a very young defence end with not much international experience but the enthusiasm within the group is just fantastic.

“We are ready to step up and they are ready to tackle this big challenge.”

In more positive news for the Diamonds, Plummer has flagged Chatfield may return from injury for the World Netball Series in Manchester and Test matches against England and Jamaica in October.

“Chatfield who has had a clean out of her knee is a real possibility to be available in October to travel to the UK with the team,” Plummer predicted.

The Holden Netball Test Series action commences on Wednesday 2 September when the Diamonds take on the World Selection.

The Diamonds then travel to Sydney (Sunday 6 September), Melbourne (Wednesday 9 September) and Brisbane (Sunday 13 September) to face arch-rivals the Silver Ferns.