England's Hockey team captain Brett Garrard.
Four players from the Great Britain team which finished ninth at the Athens Olympics will travel to Melbourne as part of England’s Hockey challenge.
England will be captained by the experienced Brett Garrard, the only member of the squad with Commonwealth Games experience, who played in both Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Manchester in 2002.
He already has 152 England caps and has played for Great Britain 58 times.
England's men just missed out on the medals at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, finishing fifth, after picking up a bronze in Kuala Lumpur.
The team's experience will be supplemented by young players like 22-year-old Barry Middleton, who already has 60 England and 41 Great Britain caps, and Simon Mantell, who made his England debut in November.
“We've got quite a young and inexperienced group of players, but we hope they will form a strong squad for the future,” England team manager Peter Nicholson said.
England comes to Melbourne after a successful series in South Africa, where they completed a three-nil series whitewash over their hosts, but will face a tough draw in the Games.
England team manager Peter Nicholson says his players will face reigning Olympic and Commonwealth Champions Australia, as well as tough New Zealand, Canadian and Scottish sides, in the early rounds.
“It's going to be a tough competition, because the Commonwealth Games nations are particularly strong. Our first game against New Zealand is a critical one for us. If we win that we will have a good chance of making the semi-finals,” said Mr Nicholson.
"We¹re really looking forward to playing Australia. It will be a full house and a great experience for the guys."
The 16-strong squad will stay in Melbourne for nine days after the Games before moving to China for the World Cup Qualifying tournament, where they will be joined by a further two players.
The England team for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games is:
Goalkeepers
Jon Ebsworth
James Fair
Defence
Brett Garrard (Captain)
Jon Bleby
Scott Cordon
Ben Marsden
Ben Hawes
Midfield
Glenn Kirkham
Barry Middleton
Rob Moore
Richard Alexander
Forwards
Martin Jones
Simon Mantell
Jonty Clarke
Matt Daly
James Tindall
Officials
Head coach: Jason Lee
Team manager: Peter Nicholson
Performance director: David Faulkner
Coaches
David Bunyan
Bobby Crutchley
John Hurst
The England women¹s team for Melbourne 2006 will be announced shortly.
The Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Hockey competition will take place from 16 – 26 March at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.
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