The London 2012 basketball test event in Stratford will be one of the first to take place on the Olympic Park itself and will see Britain's men, who are coached by highly rated American Chris Finch, take on Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia.

The event will be a male only competition with the women missing out but Spice revealed the GB men's team, which includes Chicago Bulls superstar Luol Deng, is looking to fully capitalise on the opportunity of competing in the London 2012 venue for the first time.

"From our point of view it is a tremendously exciting opportunity to be involved in the LOCOG London Invitational Tournament," Spice told insidethegames.

"There has been no other tournament of this size and nature hosted in the UK before and with it being one of the first events in the Olympic park is exciting in itself.

"From a performance perspective this signifies the formal start to our Olympic preparations.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity to compete against international teams Australia and China, and appreciate their commitment to the tournament.

"Taking on the other heavy hitters France, Serbia and Croatia, will also be a great challenge having missed all three in the EuroBasket draw at the weekend.

"Having never played France before this really is a mouth-watering prospect."

The iconic Basketball Arena, which is due to completed in the coming months, will host basketball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and the final stages of the handball competition during the London 2012 Games.

The venue, located to the north of the Olympic Park near the Velodrome and BMX circuit, will have a capacity of 12,000 during the Olympic Games, which will be reduced to 10,000 during the Paralympic Games.

It will be one of the largest-ever temporary venues built for any Games and during competition there will be a period of just 22 hours to transform the venue from the basketball competition to the handball competition finals, which will include removing the basketball posts and installing the handball goals and field of play mat.

During the Paralympic Games, there will be just 12 hours to get ready for wheelchair rugby after the wheelchair basketball competition finishes with similar changes required.

The Basketball Arena will be taken down after the London 2012 Games, although parts of the 35 metre tall building are expected to be reused or relocated elsewhere in the UK.

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