GAMES IN DEEPER CRISIS AS GB STARS PULL OUT

A NUMBER of the country’s biggest Olympic stars will miss next month’s home Commonwealth Games in a major blow for the event and Team England.

Sportsmail understands gymnast Max Whitlock is to skip Birmingham 2022 as he delays his return to competitive action following his success at the Olympics last summer. Tom Daley will also be absent as he continues to take time out from diving after winning gold at Tokyo 2020. Adam Peaty, meanwhile, is a major injury doubt as he recovers from a broken foot. With Britain’s most successful Olympian, cyclist Sir Jason Kenny, having retired, it leaves the already low-key Commonwealths shy of household names. Kenny’s wife Laura will be one of the few well-known faces in Team England’s squad. Birmingham 2022 has been plagued with problems, the latest being a staff shortage which has seen organisers scrambling to fill 5,000 short-term jobs in security, catering and cleaning — with the Army placed on standby.