Commonwealth Games 2022: England's Charlie McIntyre on wheelchair basketball selection

Charlie McIntyre has been playing basketball for a decade

Wheelchair basketball player Charlie McIntyre says "it's pretty crazy" to think he will be competing at the Commonwealth Games later this month.

The sport is being played at the Games in Birmingham for the first time and will see matches played in a shortened three-a-side format.

"The size of this event is definitely getting into me a lot more - it's unbelievable," McIntyre told BBC Essex.

England's men are in Group A with South Africa and Malaysia.

Australia, Canada and Northern Ireland make up Group B, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the semi-finals.

Selection for Team England took the form of a series of trials and camps. McIntyre, who plays his club basketball for Essex-based High Rollers, said being part of that process was pretty nerve-wracking.

"From the last camp there were nine of us and from that we got a phone call," he said.

"Waiting for that call was nail-biting - when I heard I was in I went straight to my dad and told him. He said 'you're joking?' and I said 'No, I'm serious'. My mum was on a work call at the time so me and my dad were trying to mouth to her that I'd got in.

"When she got off the phone we told her. It brought my mum to tears."

Players must be 'switched on constantly'

For its debut at the Games, matches will be played in half a court in a single 10-minute block, rather than the usual four periods of 10 minutes. Players also get just 12 seconds to shoot instead of 24.

"It's a lot more fast-paced, aggressive and rough" McIntyre added.

"It's a shorter game - with five-on-five you have timeouts and end of quarters so you have that little breathing space. In this you only have a couple of timeouts and you don't always use those.

"You have to be switched on constantly because offence turns straight to defence and if you're behind a bit they're going to score an easy basket."

McIntyre says he has watched a fair bit of South Africa's qualifying games and says they look "strong", but is trying to not think too far ahead when it comes to assessing England's medal chances.

"I'm not going to put the kiss [of death] on it but it would be amazing to do that," he said.

"I never thought I'd be playing alongside the players I am playing with and going to an event like this - you can say it but it's not always going to happen and, now it has, it's unbelievable."

The wheelchair basketball takes place between 29 July - 2 August.