Boobs

Edward Kennett is riding for Berwick on an open-ended loan from Swindon. I was told during the past week he has no "end date" to the loan in mind, and will enjoy the regular income the deal brings, not least as he will (like all Berwick riders) get his cash on the barrelhead every week. Here he comes....

Hugely enjoyed watching this one. Sky seemed to relish Berwick's efforts to make their cameras welcome. I'm told from two people who were there (and have not long got back) it was very well-presented in front of a very big crowd (Dick Barrie sensibly enticed back out of retirement!) and everything seemed spotless, new and and fresh. I'm also told Paul Starke was fined £100 for not clearing the track after what I thought was a genuine lay-down behind an out-of-control Kozza Smith.

Sky will explain it quite simply, as their viewers are used to seeing Elite teams using r/r every week. They might get Charlie to interview Andrew Tully and David Bellego, as both will be in attendance, I'd guess! There is only one rider 'missing' and that is Ludvig Lindgren, replaced by another Newcastle club asset in Adam McKinna. Remember this: there will still be four riders in every race, and if these four riders put on a good show, it'll be you and your two friends who miss out on an 'occasion to remember' on (at last) a fine summer's evening..

You misunderstand the purpose of rules. The "NL rider only" rule is to prevent riders from British clubs swanning off to ride in Europe willy-nilly. The BSPA and SVEMO has a long-standing agreement, and the PL fixture takes precedence over a Swedish fixture except for a rearranged match. With Lindgren choosing Sweden tomorrow (and why shouldn't he, he's a Swede?) the only replacement can be an NL rider. If there was a slackening of this rule, the PL would descend into chaos. From what I read here, the problem has been caused by Newcastle accepting the date. As someone said above, they didn't have to -- just about every PL club who have not yet had a league outing at Berwick would have been only too pleased to come instead, and be seen on TV. We all moan about the BSPA and the rule-book, but it really is the best rule for this type of situation, and complaints can't be laid at the BSPA's door this time. I'll be watching, and I'm sure it'll be good stuff, especially if Sky get a camera in the right position to catch the riders coming off the banking and down the home straight at 75mph!

Not so sure. The fixture had to be set up at least a month ago, Berwick at that point agreed to stage it (and ensured Aspegren, probably at that time Edberg as well, would be available). Newcastle have agreed to move their visit forward four days, and maybe they are the ones at fault, if they did so without clarifying if Ludvig was available. If Newcastle had declined, there would have been no shortage of PL teams willing to advance their Berwick visit to get their brand on SKY, no? The rules are clear -- if a rider chooses to ride abroad (other than in an official FIM event) you get an NL rider in his position. That Newcastle find themselves on TV in this situation isn't Berwick's fault, isn't Sky's fault and certainly isn't the BSPA's fault. The David Bellego scenario is bizarre. This is as if, when Scott Nicholls told Middlo he didn't want to be included in the WTC squad, the SCB handed him a three-day ban! It isn't as if Bellego hasn't turned up in Hungary for tonight, he declined selection weeks ago. Looks like the FFM are a bit small-minded. As suggested above, maybe a case for Bellego looking into taking out an ACU licence in future. However, I do applaud the Berwick club for putting the whole story on their website last night, rather than trying to brush it under the carpet without telling people.

Berwick will be pleased to see (its on their website) that Sky have scheduled Chris Louis to stand beside Nigel on the third bend, while Charlie will be doing her thing in the pits. A Tatum-free event.

Like all Polish clubs, their meetings will be on a Sunday. Edward (the Berwick website informs us that this is how he prefers to be called, not Eddie) is a temporary replacement for Darcy Ward. As have riders such as Adrian Rymel and Seb Alden before him, he will have a choice of flights to Poland from Newcastle, Edinburgh or even Glasgow early on Sunday mornings if required -- although as the Bandits only have two Saturday matches scheduled between now and July, this will all fit in quite nicely.

As the Berwick programme said last week -- to interact with the Workington natives, a banjo might help.

I think you can have any rider you want from the Premier League, except Edward Kennett. Pick wisely, Hoggy!

A positive, intelligent post from a Leicester fan. Quick, have it stuffed, these are very rare.

Just to clarify something -- long before he turned up at Sheffield, Rye House or anywhere else, he was riding as Tyson Nelson in Australia. In January 2010, their "Down Under" column in "Speedway Star" had Dick Barrie talent-spotting a 16-year-old Ty Nelson running in their U-21 Championship under guidance from Mitch Shirra, and doing well enough to qualify for the World U-21 rounds. So he was Nelson even then.

Howarth scored 6. X, 3, 1, 2, FX = 6 (Heat 16: King, Howarth, Sneddon, Robson) When was the last time they had a British rider to be in it? For "couldn't afford" read "couldn't be arsed" I rather think?

Not always a phrase to be taken as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but.......

Many, many years ago. It is not so workable since r/r was fine-tuned to allow only one rider above the missing guy to take the races.

Not an easy one -- if he doesn't get jumped on, there will be a few who start "failing to get visas" if it suits -- not least the Poles. It is the FIM who issue the bans, not the BSPA, MA (in Nelson's case) or other national bodies. Added to the mix -- your lad hasn't a great record in applying properly for visas, has he?

What a strange lot you are! Berwick are racing on two Thursdays that Swindon don't currently have a fixture -- and here we find you 'won't be bothering' to attend Blunsdon on these nights? You'll be lonely if you do.

Isn't there a bit about a rider who fails to front up for an FIM meeting not being allowed to ride anywhere else on the same date?

Usually about 7.45

Well done the Berwick PR machine, everything kept quiet until the full package was announced. As it should be.

Damn good post, Freddy!

So, who would you have sacrificed to allow Kennett to join the cause, if not Alex?

Berwick will probably submit Kozza Smith, who is going pretty well at the moment. Or Robin Aspegren, who is a flier around the OTA.

With Eddie Kennett involved, Sky will be even happier they chose this meeting to cover........

Oh, have you paid for this one?

Looking ahead to Saturday night, I really hope Shielfield Park is packed out to welcome Eddie Kennett