Tim Bayley has his sights set on the Commonwealth Games after producing his best ever performance at the AAA Championships in Manchester.

The 23-year-old from Brighton was not even in the top ten in the UK rankings going into the championships but upset the form book to seal a sensational victory in the 800m on Sunday.

Bayley's winning time of 1min.48.54sec was a personal best but he still needs to run more than a second quicker to qualify for Melbourne next March.

However, as AAA's champion he has put himself first in line for the England team and has until September to meet the selection criteria of 1min.47.50sec.

Bayley said: "It is all to play for now. I have never really made it to any big championships before so to have the opportunity to go to the Commonwealth Games is fantastic.

"It would mean so much to me to go to Australia and has given me something to strive for over the rest of the season. I have got to push on to the next level and my performance on Sunday proves I am capable of doing it."

Bayley - who runs second claim for Phoenix - was third in his heat in 1min.49.40sec, just ahead of Crawley's Joel Kidger who looked completely out-of-sorts.

With favourite Jame McIlroy dropping out of the final Bayley grabbed his chance by overtaking Michael Rimmer down the home straight to secure a victory which stunned even him. Kidger - who ran at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester - was way back in sixth.

"It was crazy," Bayley said. "When I crossed the line my first reaction was one of disbelief. I was wandering around in shock and this bloke had to tell me to do a lap of honour. I really didn't know what to make of it all.

"I honestly didn't know what to expect before the championships because I had only run a few 800m races this season so I had very little idea of what kind of form I was in.

"But I ran my heat really well and then everything went perfectly in the final. I could see on the big screen that it was just me and Micheal Rimmer in contention but I didn't know Jame McIlroy had dropped out so I was expecting him to come through.

"I kicked on the final bend and couldn't feel anyone's presence near me so I just told myself to hold on until the line."

Claire Smithson continued her good form as she booked a place in the England team for the Commonwealth Games by claiming the silver medal in the discus.

The Brighton and Hove City athlete threw 53.62m to finish behind Phillipa Roles, of Wales, but more importantly held off the challenge of Kara Nwidobie by 40 centimetres to be the best placed English athlete.

Nick Buckfield, from Crawley, will also be on the plane to Melbourne after he broke the stadium record with a clearance of 5.50m to win the pole vault.

That was still 10 centimetres short of the qualifying height for the World Championships in Helsinki next month and well down on his British record of 5.81m.

Mick Jones will have to wait to see whether he will be given the opportunity to defend his Commonwealth title in Australia after he suffered his first defeat at the AAA's Championships since 1998.

The 41-year-old from Crawley could only manage 69.60m to take the silver behind Andy Frost, who he has helped train for the last seven years.

Andrew Robinson's chances of making the England team could be boosted by London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Horsham Blue Star Harrier was third in the 3,000m steeplechase in a personal best of 8min.38.45sec. That meets the Commonwealth qualifing standard and as winner Andrew LeMoncello is Scottish leaves him second in line for a call-up to the England team.

Robinson said: "Now London has the Olympics there is a good chance they will take a bigger team to Melbourne and as I have the qualifying time I would be disappointed if they didn't pick me. I was over the moon with my time and couldn't really do anymore at the weekend."

Hove schoolteacher Julia Bennett missed out on the gold medal and a definite place at the Commonwealth Games as she could only clear 1.83m to take the silver in the high jump.

Steyning AC's Niobe Menendez took silver in the 5,000m walk in a time of 24min.00.37sec and reigning Commonwealth champion Michael East, who trains at Broadbridge Heath, was third in the 1,500m ahead of Littlehampton-born James Thie, who was fifth.

Duncan Malins, from Haywards Heath, was fourth in the 110m hurdles in 14.08sec while Worthing and District Harrier Rachel Ogden was sixth in the 800m in 2min.04.86sec.

Worthing sprinter Wade Bennett-Jackson just missed out on a place in the final of the 200m as he finished fifth in his semi-final in a time of 21.61sec after clocking 21.32sec in his heat. Chichester's Simon Cooke was 12th in the discus.