Its north-west rival hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and, in the eyes of many, is now the country's most important city outside London.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for the city," Ian Ward, the Deputy Leader of Birmingham and the head of the city's Commonwealth Games bid, told insidethegames here today.

"If you think back to Manchester in 2002 and how that allowed them to leapfrog ahead of us. 

"We've been playing catch up since then."

Birmingham will be facing another north-west city, Liverpool, for the right to become England's nomination to stage the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

The event was originally awarded to Durban in South Africa but they were stripped in March of the rights to host the event following their failure to submit the necessary financial guarantees.

Both Birmingham and Liverpool submitted their preliminary questionnaire for bidding to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) by the deadline last Friday (June 16).

Liverpool revealed full details of their bid immediately, including which sports they would include on the programme and the venues.

Birmingham have so far released only limited details, along with their bid logo and slogan, and have not confirmed a full list of which sports would feature or where they would be held.

The main detail they have made public so far is that Alexander Stadium would receive a multi-million pound upgrade and it would host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as the athletics.

The Stadium opened in 1976 and currently has a capacity of 12,500.

It has already hosted several top-class athletics events, including the International Association of Athletics Federations Diamond League and Britain's Olympic trials. 

If Birmingham is selected to host the Commonwealth Games, the Stadium would be temporarily expanded to between 40,000 and 50,000.

It would then be downscaled to 25,000 after the Games. 

"That should mean, in my view, that Birmingham becomes the national stadium for athletics in Britain," said Ward.

Liverpool's plan involves installing a temporary athletics track at Bramley-Moore Dock, the proposed new stadium for Premier League club Everton.

A planned Olympic-sized swimming pool in the West Midlands region would host the aquatics events if Birmingham are awarded the Games.

Birmingham's bid is based on a feasibility study carried out by Origin Sports Group (OSG), headed up by Debbie Jevans, the former head of sport at London 2012.

OSG also included Sir Keith Mills, the former chief executive of London 2012, and Alan Pascoe, the founder of Alan Pascoe Associates.

One innovative solution they are believed to have proposed is turning the Barclaycard Arena - formerly the National Indoor Arena - in the city centre into a temporary velodrome to stage track cycling. 

Ward is looking towards Glasgow, which hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as a model for his city.

"Glasgow 2014 managed to regenerate part of the city and is now seen as a good example of delivering legacy for the city," he said.

"I think, here in Birmingham, we are in similar position.

"We have a huge housing need.

"We need to build 51,000 homes between now and 2031.

"The Games can be a catalyst for starting to deliver some of those.

"Similarly, with our transportation infrastructure it can accelerate the delivery of that, not just in Birmingham but across the wider region.

"There's also an opportunity for us to create jobs, the same way Glasgow did."

The DCMS is expected to recommend a preferred candidate from England later this summer following site visits to both Birmingham and Liverpool. 

Besides England, Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, which staged the Commonwealth Games in 1998, has also expressed firm interest in stepping in to replace Durban. 

Victoria in Canada, which hosted the 1994 Commonwealth Games, announced earlier this month that it will bid.

Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney in Australia have also revealed they may be interested.

It is expected that the Commonwealth Games Federation will choose a host city in the autumn.