Birchfield Harrier Germaine Mason will make his international debut for his adopted country in next week's European Cup in Malaga.

The high-jumper, who holds a British passport and transferred allegiance from Jamaica earlier this year, is the club's sole male individual representative in a Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad bidding to improve on its most recent performance in the competition.

Britain finished second bottom in 2005 and would have been relegated out of the Super League but for the fact the Spanish track has nine lanes and so Mason will be charged with gaining vital points if a similar fate is to be avoided at the end of next Wednesday and Thursday's tournament.

The 22-year-old, who was recruited to represent Birch-field in British League meetings by team manager Dave Lawrence, has jumped higher than any other Briton so far this season, with the 2.28 metres he cleared in Austin in March, two centimetres higher than Martyn Bernard.

Mason is a former World Indoor bronze medallist and will not only be a contender to take maximum points next week, he will also be looking to claim gold in the European Championships but he will probably have to jump some-where close to his 2.34 personal best to do either.

Mason's club mates, Mark Lewis Francis and Dale Garland - another new face in Perry Barr -have been named in the relay squads, the latter as a travelling reserve.

In the women's team Zoe Derham has been chosen in the hammer following the retirement of her coach and long time British No 1 Lorraine Shaw.

Malaga will be the biggest international of Derham's career and comes at a time when she is throwing within half a metre of her personal best. She will be joined in a team looking to consolidate their place in the top flight after winning promotion last year by heptathlete Kelly Sotherton who competes in the long jump.

Sotherton put in a strong performance in her last outing at Gateshead leaping 6.67m - her furthest of the season and 1cm from her own l ifetime best. Helen Karagounis is in the 4x400m squad.

Perhaps the biggest name in the team is 100m runner Dwain Chambers who has regained his position at the top of the British sprinting within one race of returning from a two-year drugs ban.

Chambers has been selected in the 100m ahead of Lewis-Francis and Coventry Godiva Marlon Devonish and will run in a British vest for the first time in three years.

It is an occasion he is look-ing forward to: "I am very appreciative for the faith shown in me by selectors and by the reception I received at Gateshead a couple of weeks ago,' Chambers said.

"The chance to once again wear a GB vest and represent my country is one I'm thankful for. This means so much to me and my family.

"Now I have been given this second chance I am looking forward to Malaga and bringing home maximum points for the team and country."

The 10.07 seconds he ran in Gateshead ten days ago has already established Chambers as the quickest man in Europe this year and he will be hopeful of producing the type of result required by Dave Collins.

The performance director for UK Athletics told his team there a repeat of their showing in Florence will not be tolerated.

"I have made no secret of the fact that I expect athletes to step up to the plate in this competition," Collins said.

"The 2007 European Cup will be held in Munich, which has an eight-lane track. Therefore there will be no last minute reprieves should we not perform."