Cook injury a real blow to club and rider

It’s been a quiet week for the Stars since their opening win in the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership over Leicester, and the fans’ chatter has been dominated by how Ben Cook’s absence will be covered after he broke his radius and scaphoid bones in his left wrist during heat 10 of that win.Cook had looked back to his fast and aggressive best during the meeting and it’s a big blow to both rider and club that he faces a spell on the sidelines.The conundrum for the management is whether rider replacement, guests or a temporary signing will be the best way to fill the gap and that could be further complicated if Cook drops to reserve for May when the new greensheet averages come into force.Before that, Lynn host Oxford next Monday in the opening televised fixture on TNT Sports where they will be looking to repeat their comfortable victory over the Spires in the KO Cup on opening night.This represents a good opportunity to get some more points on the board and set the foundation for an aggregate bonus point.The Monday after that sees a Bank Holiday trip over the border to face our old friends the Ipswich Witches, who have started the season very impressively and are the bookies’ favourites for honours. It’s a daunting prospect on a circuit where Lynn rarely triumph, but the beauty of sport is that anything can happen, so hopefully the weather is good and the crowd healthy for the first of at least six clashes with our nearest and dearest rivals on the track in 2025.The Young Stars made a winning start to their campaign at Birmingham in a dream return to third-tier racing after an absence of eight seasons and there is much anticipation and excitement around their first home meeting at the Adrian Flux Arena at the end of the month. The idea of the team, and the National Development League and Trophy for that matter, is to develop young talent for the club and British speedway in general, but winning meetings and ultimately competitions makes the journey even more enjoyable for riders and supporters alike.Captain and local lad Jody Scott has made a strong start to the season both for the Young Stars and with a guest appearance for Redcar at Scunthorpe in the Championship and Max Perry shone for his second-tier club Glasgow in their win at Berwick over the weekend.But the star of the show in the third tier so far has been 15-year-old Cooper Rushen, who between his two teams, the Young Stars, the Leicester Lion Cubs and a couple of guest appearances has racked up 61+3 points out of a possible 72 at four different circuits and really does look a special talent. It’s going to be exciting to see these three alongside Harrison Rogers, Ashton Vale, Luke Harrison and Callum Mitchell (another local rider) all improve and develop as the season progresses.Who knows, some of them might graduate into the Stars senior side in years to come.