baiden

GB have got form when it comes to this haven't they? The European U19 pairs in Riga was a shambles after Leon Flint pulled out - Sam Hagon on his own as we didn't have a reserve.

It’s first come first served. Just one ticket available - general admission - and you can go where you want.

Oxford stronger on paper than their first home meeting against Poole with Summers and Starke now in for Newman and MacDonald (or Stoneman as it was back then), but they are still very inconsistent as you said.

As many expected, Ben Barker was 'withdrawn' from the Oxford vs Plymouth match last night due to a positive drug (or possibly alcohol) test. It's on the SCB website here...

Is Kubera really having a better season than Janowski?

Was looking at how the Poles have scored points in meetings outside of Poland. Just looking at the Speedway of Nations, I think it proves both of our points. Zmarzlik has been pretty dominant, but the rest of the Poles have definitely struggled. Bartosz Zmarzlik - 129 Rest of Poland - 84 Maciej Janowski 37, Patryk Dudek 23, Dominik Kubera 13, Maksym Drabik 6, Jakub Miskowiak 3, Bartosz Smektala 2

Yeah, sorry, I edited my post to mention about 2013. Well, I'll remind you of this thread after Saturday! I really hope I'm wrong though.

In the Zmarzlik era though, they won in Prague in 2013 and Manchester in 2016 (only losing out in Vojens in 2015) - plus they top scored in both the Tolyatti and Belle Vue Speedway of Nations (despite losing the Grand Final). That's not exactly poor performances. Plus, if we look at the junior categories, Poland have been pretty dominant outside of Poland. Again, not really disagreeing with you, just playing devil's advocate. (edit, apologies, Zmarzlik didn't ride in 2013)

But that's what I mean. Zmarzlik is good everywhere, even when riding for Poland. It's the rest of the Polish team letting their nation down outside of their home country. I wasn't disagreeing with you, just pointing out he can almost win meetings on his own (or at least put them in a position to do so - take 2019 Speedway of Nations for example).

Zmarzlik is still all that. He just wasn't at his best last night, but he's had plenty of success on tracks outside of Poland. You might have a point with the other Poles, though.

Yeah, great shout, although he would have won a bunch of them if it wasn't for the New Zealanders.

This website is superb. Never seen it before, but shall definitely be using it more going forward. Thanks

Got to say I was pretty impressed with some of the riders last night. Leon Flint was always an obvious winner, but the standard was better than I was expecting. The main thing that caught my eye is just how good some of these kids are at such a young age. Five of them are only 15 I think (Max Perry, Max James, Luke Harrison, Jody Scott, Ace Pijper?), and a couple only one year older. Maybe the future isn't quite so bleak.

I don't think anybody has criticised the effort of the Birmingham track staff, have they? People have just stated the track wasn't in very good condition. I'm sure a lot of effort was put in, and you've rightly defended them, but that doesn't mean all that effort resulted in a good track. It happens sometimes.

Manageable amounts of dust and a good racing surface at Oxford on Wednesday as well. Back-to-back meetings held without any issues.

Completely understand what you are saying, and appreciate the complexities of hosting an event where cash is involved. In your honest opinion, though, if you were already taking cash at bars/official food outlets and programme stalls, would it have been that much extra hassle to take cash on the gate? For the motorsport events where you insisted on online payments only, were there cash exchanges going on elsewhere that you had to manage? Just interested if they go hand-in-hand, or not. I guess the Oxford situation will be proven one way or the other once the greyhound racing starts. If that's also online only, I'll eat my hat!

Count again. There are three people on this thread, let alone the many others on different threads about Oxford. Not all the cash is being taken through a till, though, there are plenty of places where it's taken by a man/woman in front of a table! I honestly can't see where the extra cost is going to come in. There's no need to employ extra staff, they already have lots of people on the gate checking QR codes, they already need the security for the other cash taken and they already need to visit the bank. And that's my point, if it does cost much more, then fair enough, but just don't see how it could. You've organised events, so how much of a difference financially is it to have someone take cash and check QR codes, as opposed to just checking QR codes? I don't know, maybe there is a difference. In a worst case scenario, would it cost much more just to have one entrance where cash could be taken? I guess Oxford knows best. At the end of the day, all I'm saying is it would be nice if they took cash on the gate. It's not going to stop me going if they don't.

Okay, so let's all sit back and do nothing! Oxford isn't likely to close because of 'constructive criticism' on a forum, it'll close due to dwindling revenue due to lost ticket sales. I'm not moaning, I will happily buy a ticket online every week, just pointing out that I think a lack of cash payments is a missed opportunity.

The sheer amount of people complaining about it on here should show that Oxford are potentially missing out. But it's up to them at the end of the day, I'll be very surprised if you can't pay on the gate once greyhound racing restarts, though. And as I've already said, there are plenty of other cash transactions going on inside the stadium, so not sure what they do with that cash if taking it to the bank is such a problem. Perhaps it's pocketed by the employees, so they don't have to worry about it!

If the stadium is going to go completely cashless, then fair enough. But it's not, so don't understand why they can't take cash on the gate.

As much as you're trying to make a joke, some of the older generation simply haven't adapted. My father doesn't have a smartphone and has never paid for anything online. The only way he has attended any of the Oxford Cheetahs fixtures so far, is because I've bought him a ticket and have gone with him. I couldn't go this week, so he was unable to attend. I live 50 miles away from him, so what was I supposed to do? Make a 100-mile round trip so he could go? Post it to him? How are any of these options better than paying at the gate? Sure, it's his loss if he doesn't want to pay online, but at the end of the day it's also Oxford's loss. It's £18 less they've made, and I doubt my father was the only one. I'm really not sure why you have such a problem with people paying on the gate? There are people there checking QR codes when you arrive (so definitely enough staff), and plenty of employees handling cash inside the stadium. Just make every option available, and everybody will be happy, no?

So what do you think they do with all the cash that is taken from programme, bar and food sales? All of what you say is already in place (bar the turnstiles, but they are hardly a necessity). There's plenty of handling of cash going on by employees inside the stadium. I'm not against downloading an app onto a phone. In fact you don't even need to do that as it can all be done in a browser. But as I stated, there are people not comfortable doing that (or even not able to do that), so why not provide for them as well?

I didn't go last night, but the amount on the terraces can be a little deceiving. They are limited to only 2,000, so the terraces never look full even when it's sold out. That said, it wouldn't surprise if the crowd was a little down, chances of reaching the playoffs dwindling/non-existent etc. It will be interesting to see if it picks back up for the Jubilee Trophy. The online gimmick is still definitely a factor, though. I couldn't go last night, and my old man would have gone on his own if he could have paid on the gate with cash. He didn't fancy buying a ticket online as he's not that comfortable doing it. I'm sure he's not alone in that feeling.

Good to know...not exactly paying at the gate is it?! Hopefully they get that sorted out for next season.

I don't think the current Crayford stadium has ever hosted speedway. Racing ceased when the old Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium was demolished.