Lee Dicken was the final signing of our 2007 side and this is his second spell riding for the Tigers although his time with us in 2004 was a brief one. He is a man of many clubs and for each team he has ridden for he has been a popular and valued member of that side.

Much has been made in Elite League circles about Andy Smith continually being a victim of the points limit , but in the Premier League there can be no better example than Lee Dicken on how the sports regulations work against the important middle order riders.

Twice he has been frozen out of the Hull and twice he has suffered the same fate at Newcastle. In one of the occasions at Hull he actually the only performing rider in the side but incredibly he found himself axed supposedly to make the side stronger.

Lee is a very experienced Premier League rider having ridden in over three hundred matches at this level. His best season was riding for Hull in 2000 when his average was in excess of seven. Since then he has consistently been around the five and a half point figure which means that the Tigers have got themselves a bargain as Lee joins the Tigers in what is clearly a false average.

He isn’t expected to challenge Shane and Danny for top spot but he is very capable of providing the solid middle order scoring which is so important to any successful speedway team.

His previous spell at Ashfield in 2004 was not too successful. Lee was signed on a 30 day contract and was immediately pitched into our Premier Trophy semi final against Reading. He crashed heavily in the second leg at Reading suffering concussion. He bravely rode in another two matches for us when clearly far from fit.