England get men's Commonwealth Games underway tonight

Today’s the day as England’s men are the first of our teams to play in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

England take on Ghana at 7pm tonight (Fri 29 July) looking to get their campaign off to a positive start. Live coverage is across BBC Sport TV and digital platforms.

They face a Ghana men’s side who come into the event in an upbeat manner, having qualified for the very first time.

The match takes place at the University of Birmingham, where a fantastic new stand has been put in place for the event, taking capacity to 6,000. England tickets remain available – please visit http://tickets.birmingham2022.com

Having been in a shadowing role throughout the FIH Hockey Pro League, Head Coach Paul Revington leads his side for the first time in this prestigious event. England’s men are looking to continue their Commonwealth Games successes of the past, having won bronze in Australia four years ago in the most recent tournament.

Eight members of the squad from 2018 are included again this time around. Sam Ward was the tournament’s leading scorer four years ago and he is selected alongside fellow 2018 medallists Liam Ansell, David Condon, Brendan Creed, David Goodfield, Chris Griffiths, Phil Roper and Ian Sloan, who will all be gunning for success once again. Chester-born midfielder Roper will be playing in his third Commonwealth Games, having won bronze at both the Gold Coast and in Glasgow in 2014.

Six players get the opportunity to play their first major tournament for England and do so in front of a vociferous home crowd; James Albery, Nick Bandurak, James Mazarelo, Nick Park, Stuart Rushmere and Rhys Smith.

Unfortunately both Liam Sanford and Nick Park withdrew from the squad with injury before the event began; being replaced by Wimbledon’s Sloan and Rhys Smith.

The leadership group for the Commonwealth Games is Zach Wallace (captain); Jack Waller and James Albery (vice captains); Tom Sorsby and Ollie Payne.

You can follow goal updates on @EnglandHockey on social and we also have a full live Match Centre blog here on the England Hockey website.

England's women play their first game on Saturday evening at 4pm, also taking on Ghana.