It’s Cookie and Connor

Few will be surprised when we say that neither Lewis Kerr nor Bastian Borke are fit to take their place in the Jewson Bandits, powered by Keenwood Karpets, line-up tomorrow night.

They may both be practically irreplaceable but that hasn’t stopped us trying. Lining up against the Scunthorpe Scorpions will be the fastest man ever around Shielfield Park and the 2024 Bandit of the year.

Wearing the number one race bib will be no other than Workington Comet and Leicester Lion Craig Cook, the Cumbrian whose 62.8 seconds while guesting for Sheffield in 2015 is still the fastest four laps ever around Shielfield Park despite the track being shortened and widened in the intervening years.

Cookie has been rejuvenated by his switch to Workington this season and has also made his mark in the Premiership at Oxford and Leicester and been among the points as a guest for Edinburgh this week. We had planned to use the 37-year-old as a guest in 2022 – also against Scunthorpe – for skipper Chris Harris who was racing in FIME grasstrack duty only for the booking to be blocked by the SCB because the meeting our then skipper was competing in was not deemed “official”.

Bomber went on to sweep the board at our end of season presentation night that year and his successor for the silverware, Connor Coles will get a warm welcome from the fans he so impressed with a string of battling performances before his season ended with a broken arm and shoulder injuries.

He’s had a steady season in Edinburgh colours so far in 2024 and is relishing the chance to put on the famous Berwick colours again.

All the action will be live on BSN.

Early-bird tickets, priced £18, remain on sale until midnight tonight (Friday). Matchday e-tickets are £20 (£18 concessions) and that is also the price for cash admission. Accompanied under-16s are admitted free. Buy Tickets  

An update on our popular injured reserve. Bastian’s family – who just a fortnight ago were revelling in the atmosphere atr Shielfield Park, are with him at Poole Hospital and report that scans show a lung injury and damage to his knee. He is waiting to undergo surgery and, because of the lung problem, cannot fly for some time so he will need to be driven back to Denmark by his family.

They added: “Thank you very much for all the messages or support. It is very touching and means the world to Bastian.”