Jamell Anderson had no voice left after England booked their place in the final of the 3x3 basketball and he was not the only one.

The Clifton star helped England edge past Canada 13-12, a final shot from the Canadians going nowhere near the basket to set up a final against Australia.

This summer, Team England, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, comprises of over 400 athletes, all vying for medal success.

And for Anderson, who has been on a mission in Birmingham to win a Commonwealth medal like wife Georgia who did so four years ago in Gold Coast, the emotions were hard to contain.

He said: “The atmosphere was absolutely amazing, I’ve lost my voice, I know they have too. I appreciate every single bum on those seats tonight.

“I’m close to tears to be honest. We left it all on the floor. It’s been a lot of preparation, we’ve travelled to about six countries and there were times we lost in buzzer-beater games in Europe and it hurt. We’ve carried that with us and left it on the floor today and put ourselves in the medal game. So we’re elated.”

It was England’s defence that made the difference at the death, overwhelming the Canadians with their size.

And for Anderson, everything about this team begins and ends on that side of the ball.

He said: “It’s defence, we believe in our defence more than anything else. That’s the soul of this team, we’ve done that from the beginning and that’s why we won that game tonight.

“One more game, one more game.

“It’s about consistency tomorrow. We have shown that we can do that. It’s about holding ourselves accountable to never giving up on any plays, staying concentrated and not getting ahead of ourselves. We have to remain humble. If we do that, we’ll be in good shape.”

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