Scotland, who are due to face the England Under-21 side in the third and fourth Tests this weekend, have an injury crisis approaching that of Edinburgh. With Scotland already missing Stewart McDonald and fringe rider Wesley Waite and James Grieves still not fully fit, Scott Lamb became the latest victim. Lamb, who was due to ride number 1 and captain Scotland is out with a suspected broken arm sustained at Berwick on Saturday.
Mick Powell has been called up to replace Lamb. While Mick was born in 1969 in Brisbane, he qualifies for Scotland via his grandparents. He has been based in Scotland since signing for Edinburgh in 1989. He has alternated between Edinburgh and Glasgow prior to joining the third 'Scottish' track at Berwick a few weeks back.
Bert Harkins has, up to now, resisted attempts to draft Powell for Scotland on the grounds of wanting to keep the team pure. David Meldrum has been included in the Scotland team despite being born on the 'wrong' side of the border in Berwick because of parentage. Mick probably qualifies for Scotland by length of residency alone.
The fact that Mick has ridden for Australia should not be a problem. His cap came in a representative match against the National League in 1989 at Edinburgh, rather than in a full international match. Anyway, the injury to Scott Lamb on top of that for Stewart McDonald was sufficient to provoke a call-up for Mick. The only real alternative would have been to draft in David McAllan at reserve and promote Blair Scott or Barry Campbell to second string and Ross Brady up to heat leader. Alternatively, rider replacement could have been used, at a pinch, for Lamb with McAllan in at number 8.
The full team is expected to be:
1. Mick Powell (Berwick)
2. David Meldrum (Berwick)
3. Kevin Little (Edinburgh)
4. Ross Brady (Edinburgh)
5. James Grieves (Edinburgh)
6. Blair Scott (Edinburgh)
7. Barry Campbell (Workington)
Standby: David McAllan (Edinburgh)
The England Under-21 side will not include World Under-21 Champion Lee Richardson or British Under-21 Champion Scott Nicholls who are both involved in the full England squad in the Test series against the USA this week.
The England team is a reasonably strong one and is led by David Howe of Peterborough. The team is expected to include the Sheffield trio of Simon Stead, Paul Lee, and Simon Cartwright. Exeter heat leader Lee Dicken and Workington rider Grant McDonald are likely starters. Also candidates are Newport's Chris Neath, Swindon's Oliver Allen, and Danny Bird of the Isle of Wight.
The England Under-21 side contains no obvious Armadale specialists and lack heat leader strength apart from Howe. They are not expected to provide much resistance in the Edinburgh Test despite their strength-in-depth. It could be a very different story on the wide open spaces of Derwent Park where the big track England riders could come into their own.