England's Games squad has depth beyond Paula Radcliffe.
The withdrawal of runner Paula Radcliffe has revealed a great depth in the England Games squad with medal hopes in many events including Athletics, Swimming and Boxing.
Welterweight boxer Neil Perkins was recently named Boxer of the Year by his amateur association, and is a favourite to win gold in his division.
Rebecca Cooke will be defending her 400m and 800m Freestyle titles in the pool. Cooke is also the British record holder in the 400m Individual Medley and the 1500m Freestyle.
Kelly Sotherton, 29, will be looking to improve on her Athens Olympic heptathlon bronze. She will be working hard in Melbourne - competing in both the Heptathlon and Long Jump competition - and is one of Englands best medal prospects.
51-year-old rifleman Mike Gault also has an eye on gold.
Competing in six events, Gault has won 11 medals from three Games, second only to swimmer Karen Pickering with a tally of 13.
The England Swimming squad is a contrast of youth and experience - it features 35-year-old Mark Foster, competing in his sixth Games, and 16-year-old Fran Halsall who debuts in Melbourne.
“The team is a nice balance of youth and experience,” team spokesperson Caroline Searle said.
England finished second to Australia in the medals table in Manchester but Searle is playing down the chances of a comparable result this year.
“We had home advantage in Manchester. We don't expect to do so well in Melbourne,” she said. “In Manchester, we had a team of 444, in Melbourne it will be 377.”
Another hopeful for the English Athletics team is Decathlete Dean Macey, who finished fourth in both the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games.
“If I want to win a medal in Beijing, I've got to start working my way up the ladder again and I'm going to do that by winning the gold medal in Melbourne,” Macey said. “I'm in fantastic shape and awesome form.”
Other competitors expected to make an impact include Olympic gold medallists Bradley Wiggins - men’s Individual Pursuit in Athens - and Jason Queally - 1km Time Trial in Sydney - who heads the 25-strong Cycling team. They will pedal alongside a Pursuit quartet who won gold at the world track championships.
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