Hamish McRaker

The comparison with NSS opening night is an interesting one. From what I've read, and notwithstanding the issues with the track base construction, one of the factors was that track surface conditions changed within quite a short time frame, and this was associated with a drop in temperature attire allied with damp air. This being the case, and with similar atmospheric conditions applying at Swindon, those responsible for the management and control of the meeting should have taken a more pro_active approach but instead what is emerging, is a picture of anything but that. The consequences are two riders injured unnecessarily and further damage to the credibility of speedway in the UK. The Polish paymasters will of course be taking note, with possible consequences in terms of riders being allowed to race over here, and at a time when the league here desperately needs a main sponsor this is yet another good reason for a potential sponsor to have second thoughts.

So who has ultimate responsibility for speedway meetings? I'm presuming the referee by authority delegated to him/her from the ACU. Has to be someone in command, otherwise you get chaos with every Tom Dick and Harry trying to lay claim to being in authority. By all means the referee can listen and seek opinions, but they should be able to intervene with full authority and take charge when these situations exist, where so many variables are at play. I won't shift from my view this was caused, as most system failures are, by weak management and fully agree that it needs prompt investigation with Crystal clear directives.

The referee should have taken proper control and required the two captains to go out and test the track immediately before the scheduled start. In conditions like this, the track can change to a dangerous condition within a short time. Giving the riders the option of doing a test is wishy washy and is abdicating responsibility. The SCB should suspend the referee immediately and get to the bottom of what happened.

It's a lack of clear command and control. All systems failures come down to this. It's no good trying to deflect the "blame" onto the riders. There should be somebody or a group of persons who have clear and unequivocal command, and carry that out.

In current climatic conditions it's plain old common sense to keep checking track conditions and not presume they will remain the same. But common sense goes out of the window when other motivations take over. There just seemed to be an absence of common sense

How much time elapsed between the riders track walk and the start of heat 1? And when did the ref inspect the track? What involvement did the track curator have? It's well known that in these circumstances the condition of the track can change very quickly, by changes to atmospheric conditions and it wouldn't have needed a meteorologist to have said "hang on, let's have another look". But did anyone do that, or did they collectively just press on and trust to luck?

It isn't necessarily about whether or not it's raining at the time of the match. What you have here is ground (all over the country) that has absorbed abnormal quantities of water with little respite and low chances of evaporation. So water will keep coming to the surface especially when the air temperature drops. Secondly, just because riders decide they want to go ahead, doesn't mean they are making the right decision.

They don't muck around, these new promoters at Leicester

If some GP riders and clubs really were being blocked due to having automatic imposition of a 9 point average, and the promters involved really wanted them back, why did those promoters not take a stronger, collective stance over it? Or perhaps the GP riders could have collectively organised a boycott. So it seems that this 9 point business really was a myth, fake news, conspiracy or whatever you want to call it. But it must have originated somewhere.

What on Earth do people expect Poole to do? Replace Holder with (and I mean no disrespect) Bjarne Pedersen or Nikolai Klindt? It's up to other clubs to get smarter, not for Poole to get dumber. As for the "rules" or rather the muddle which allows this kind of thing, well that is a completely different matter.

Leave final confirmation of rider and team averages until right on the very even of the season. Very clever. Gives the affected teams no scope for threatening to take their ball away because of adjustments. Is Sarjeants "new" average down to the recent adjustment to the PL/CL conversion rate? But of course there has been no upwwrds adjustment to three Poole riders, who have all been absent from Britain for so long as to render their previous averages obsolete. Perahps they can now be changed to 7.50, 5.20 and 5.20 respectively so as to be more realistic?

Did that George Wood fella who rode for Sheffield a bit last season get an average ? Seemed a genuine lad.

Maybe one match in April might be ok just as a starter, best towards the end though because Pinky & Perky will have more to talk about by then ( by that I mean results and performances in early season), and it isn't a good idea to televise if the "crowds" are freezing their dangly bits off under sleeping bags and blankets.

I don't recall having to send a photo of my genitals when I set up a profile on here, in order to verify my gender. Mind you I forget a lot nowadays.

When is the football World Cup?