Netball New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle yesterday confirmed the city was back on the international schedule.
‘‘Otago Netball has been lobbying hard for the past six to eight months and we are delighted to be coming to Dunedin,'' Ms Castle said.
‘‘We do recognise that we need to take netball to centres other than Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.''
She could not confirm the dates until England had ratified the schedule, but it would be the second test of a three-match series. An announcement on which venues would host the other two matches would be made next week.
Otago Netball regional manager Nicki Paterson was confident the public would support the test.
‘‘We're very pleased indeed and I know all our netball supporters will be there,'' she said.
‘‘We just have the two franchise games here this year so I'm sure everyone will come and support the Ferns.''
The Silver Ferns last played in Dunedin in May 1998. It was a memorable year for Otago Netball, with the Otago Rebels winning the inaugural Coca-Cola Cup and Otago winning the national championship.
Otago had four players in the Silver Ferns team, including captain Belinda Colling, Anna Rowberry, Lesley Nicol and Belinda Blair.
The Yvonne Willering-coached Silver Ferns did not have such a good night, losing a tight test to Australia 48-52 on a temporary court in the Edgar Centre.
However, unless NNZ changes its policy, the Lion Foundation Arena will not host a test against Australia for a televised game, the venue has a capacity of 2888, well below NNZ's minimum requirement of 5000 seats
It is shaping as a big sporting year for Dunedin. The city hosted its first cricket test in 11 years in January and Carisbrook will host its first rugby test in three years when the All Blacks play the Springboks in July.
