The first round proper of the men's sprint failed to match the drama of the qualifying session in which the Commonwealth Games record was beaten three times.

With the track running very fast in warm, humid temperatures an extraordinary morning's racing the qualifying for the 4,000m pursuit also saw the Games record bettered on three occasions.

However, the first round of the sprint went according to form in the afternoon with all 12 of the seeded riders winning their pairings.

Scottish Olympic silver medallist Craig MacLean, countryman Ross Edgar, England's Jamie Staff and Andy Slater, and Northern Ireland's Alwyn McMath all made Tuesday evening's second round.

MacLean, who comfortably beat Canada's Steen Madsen, believes a combination of factors pushed the standard up.

He said: "The atmosphere from the crowd helps and it's very warm in here with low pressure, thundery conditions outside."

Ryan Bayley of Australia was first to pencil himself into the record books, breaking the sprint qualifying record of 10.258 seconds set by Darryn Hill in Kuala Lumpur four years ago.

However, Bayley's time of 10.195secs was soon wiped out by Englishman Jamie Staff - the former BMX world champion completing the 200m distance in 10.146.

He was outdone in his turn by the bearded Australian Sean Eadie who pipped him by a fraction of a second, coming in at 10.145.

Brad McGee's 1998 record of 4mins 30.594secs in the 4,000m individual pursuit fared no better.

Isle of Wight 19-year-old Kieran Page pushed round the 16 laps in 4mins 29.662secs but expected to see his mark knocked down before lunch.

"This is arguably the fastest track in the world," he said. "I was just lucky to be up first."

His expectations were confirmed - he eventually came in eighth - when New Zealand's Hayden finished in 4mins 25.898secs before the Kiwi was also beaten by Australia's Luke Roberts in 4mins 19.967secs.

McGee, newly arrived in Manchester from finishing the Tour de France on Sunday, was still to ride.

However, the Australian was content to settle for a place in the competition proper, but still beat his old record by over nine seconds.