Commonwealth Games 2014 schedule: How the action is likely to unfold at Glasgow’s great showpiece

From the unmistakable tones of Rod Stewart to the familiar figures of Sir Bradley Wiggins, Mo Farah and Tom Daley, to name but a few, Matt Majendie gives the lowdown on a Games bursting at the seams in star quality

Sir Bradley Wiggins, Tom Daley, Mo Farah and Rod Stewart (Getty Images)

For 12 days, Glasgow will come alive as the Commonwealth Games takes centre stage in Scotland. 2014 has, so far, been a year of failure for British athletes for a whole host of reasons, but the names below certainly have the talent to change that.

Here's everything you need to know about who's competing when and where.

Wednesday 23 July

The Games officially open at Celtic Park with the conclusion of the Queen’s Baton Relay and a parade of the nations and athletes. The stars on stage will be Scottish crooner Rod Stewart and former Britain’s Got Talent winner Susan Boyle.

Thursday 24 July

Scotland will hope to open the first day of sport with a gold as Michael Jamieson, one of the faces of the Games, gets in action on the first day in the pool in the 200 metres breaststroke, one of six swimming finals on night one. The Brownlee brothers and Jodie Stimpson go for England in the triathlon, while the lawn bowls also gets under way. Jamaica had hoped to enter a team including the boxer Junior Witter but had to delay their participation until the 2018 Games.

Friday 25 July

Double London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Laura Trott, who is entered in three events in Glasgow, goes in the individual pursuit, while boyfriend Jason Kenny will also be targeting gold in the sprint. At the aquatics centre, there are eight medals up for grabs: England’s Liam Tancock aims to defend his 100m backstroke title from Delhi while Fran Halsall, a five-time medallist in Delhi, is also in action.

Saturday 26 July

It’s England v Wales on the home front in the women’s 58kg weightlifting, with 15 years the age gap between Wales’ Michaela Breeze and England’s Zoe Smith. In the pool, Bangladesh may not possess an Olympic-sized pool but that won’t deter Mahfizur Rahman, who will go in the heats of the 100m freestyle. He was 61st at last year’s World Championships.

Sunday 27 July

The business-end of the rugby sevens will see New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England all battle it out for the men’s title. In cycling, Malaysia’s Azizhulasni Awang will hope to upstage Kenny in the men’s keirin. Awang gained global notoriety when he ended up with a massive shard of wood from the track embedded in his thigh while competing in a World Cup event in the UK in 2011.

Monday 28 July

Women’s boxing makes its Commonwealth Games debut with the preliminaries of the women’s flyweight. Olympic champion Nicola Adams will be taking to the ring, while Mick Gault, who has come out of retirement for the Games to win an 18th Games medal and become the most successful athlete in the event’s history, goes in the 50m pistol shooting. Also, the athletics begins inside Hampden Park.

Tuesday 29 July

It’s being billed as England versus Canada as Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Brianne Theisen-Eaton prepare to do battle on day one of the heptathlon – and both competitors will be giving it both barrels. Ukrainian-born wrestler Yana Stadnik will aim to be in medal contention in the 48kg category. She failed to get a passport in time for London 2012 selection and her English husband, Leon Rattigan, will go in the 97kg division the following day. The couple’s hobby is going to the park, apparently.

Wednesday 30 July

The Scottish public will be hoping Daniel Purvis can live up to his billing as world No 2 in the all-round individual men’s gymnastics final. The competition looks like to be particularly strong in the women’s disciplines, with Canadian Victoria Moors and England’s Ruby Harrold vying for honours. It’s also the second and final day of the women’s heptathlon.

Thursday 31 July

There was much furore when Bradley Wiggins was omitted from Team Sky’s Tour de France line-up but the knight of the realm has a chance to prove a point in the men’s time-trial; Emma Pooley will go for England in the women’s. On the athletics track, the great David Rudisha will be in action in the 800m final and David “the Weirwolf” Weir in the T54 1500m. The big men of lifting – weighing in at 105 kilograms or more – will take to the stage, with Canada’s strongest man, George Kobaladze, hoping to live up to his billing as the favourite.

Friday 1 August

Inside Hampden Park, if fit, Mo Farah will hope to be going for his second gold of the Games in the 10,000m, while Tiffany Porter will bid to upset Sally Pearson, the Australian favourite, in the 100m hurdles. Expect carnage in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the squash doubles, among them Australia’s David Palmer, who retired from the world tour in 2011 to focus on his business interests but has returned to partner Cameron Pilley (men’s) and Rachael Grinham (women’s) to win a gold that has so far eluded him, 16 years after he made his Games debut.

Saturday 2 August

Tom Daley will aim to defend his 10-metre platform diving title, while Britain’s relay runners will be hoping to get the baton around in the athletics. Gao Ning, of Singapore, is the highest-ranked player in the men’s table tennis singles at world No 20 and should to be favourite in the men’s final.

Sunday 3 August

Mark Cavendish’s hopes of putting the Isle of Man on the map in the men’s road race have been ruined by a collarbone injury. The best bet for a home nation win now rests with Lizzie Armitstead, the Olympic silver medallist. Meanwhile, badminton’s Chris and Gabby Adcock, who had separated as playing partners in 2012, will be hoping for marital bliss during the mixed-doubles medal stage.