The 23-year-old Jamaican looked to have finally come of age when he broke the world record in Athens running 9.77 seconds in June last year - but the rest of the season was to turn into a nightmare.

He broke down injured at the Jamaican championships and though he turned up for the worlds in Helsinki last August he was unable to run but still insisted he would have beaten 100m champion Justin Gatlin.

However, while few have doubted his ability there has always been a question mark over his championship temperament and he will be heavily tested here by his compatriot Michael Frater, who was second albeit a distant one to Gatlin in the world final.

Powell believes that he can win two titles at the Games - the 100m and the 4x100m relay but he has said that before and been found wanting like in the Olympic final in Athens after which he pulled out of the 200m.

Frater may not be as fast as Powell but he has shown he has the big race temperament while were Ghana's Olympic finalist Aziz Zakari and Trinidadian duo Marc Burns and Darrel Brown to run to their best then the world record holder will have a real battle on his hands.

Powell, though, landed the first blow when he won a 100m race last Thursday beating most of his serious rivals.

"I was quite nervous out there," Powell said. "I haven't been on the track for almost a year now. So I need the confidence but I'm the world record holder and I had to prove that I am.

"I'm feeling pretty good ... but you can look for something different at the Commonwealth Games because this is my first event."

Indeed the 100m may well be the precursor for a Caribbean medalfest in the shorter distance races as the British nations have little or no hope of putting up a fight.

The middle distance races and upwards will be the exception and logically the preserve of the Kenyans who will not have the imperious presence of bitter rivals Ethiopia to rub their noses in the ground.

However many of the shorter distance races could become a personal duel between the Jamaicans and the Bahamas as was the case in Manchester four years ago.

Jamaica will front up with Powell, Frater, two-time Olympic 400m finalist Davian Clarke and women's 200m Olympic queen Veronica Campbell.

The Bahamas will be led by Olympic and world 400m champion Tonique Williams-Darling, who has one ambition - to emulate heroine Cathy Freeman.

"I was there (in Sydney the night Freeman won Olympic gold) and it really was something special to witness," said Williams-Darling.

"Now I have the chance to emulate Cathy in holding all the titles and it is something I have dreamt about. It is possibly my last chance to achieve that as I am the old lady of the event," added the 30-year-old.

While the hosts are weak in the shorter distances they will be looking to world bronze medallist Craig Mottram to land a surprise in the 5000m and defeat the man who won the world title last year, Kenya's Benjamin Limo.

Limo, 31, was his country's only male distance gold medallist at the world championships and was originally determined to run at the world cross country championships but has opted instead to run here after some persuasion by a Games official. That has Mottram licking his lips in anticipation.

"I have prepared for this for a long time. I want to beat the best and that's what Benjamin is," said Mottram. "I know I can beat the Kenyans now after taking the bronze. It has given me that extra bit of confidence. And to do it in a stadium (Melbourne Cricket Ground) just 200 metres from my home would mean so much."

However, Mottram is aware that while he has reached the elite of the event he has still a lot to prove. "I haven't won anything of significance since the 3000m at the 2002 World Cup," said Mottram, whose English father played league football for Wimbledon.

"This would be a massive breakthrough if I took gold here." Their one truly world class athlete Jana Pittman has not exactly had the best preparation for the Games and with her getting married a week after the competition finishes she may well be more distracted than usual.

Having attracted a fair amount of criticism at home and abroad the 23-year-old's ultra-protective father came out on Thursday and threatened to sue over comments made about her - again another distraction which the 2003 world 400m hurdles champion could have done without.

There will be a less familiar face wearing the Australian team strip in the women's 5,000m in the shape of Mottram's training partner Sonia O'Sullivan as the Irishwoman bids to add Commonwealth gold in the event to the world title she won 11 years ago.

Some people might object at her competing given she has devoted her entire stellar career to Ireland but in a discipline where the Australians will be fortunate to pick up a handful of titles they will be glad to accept anything offered.