FORMER national boss Neil Middleditch declared himself "saddened and surprised" over the Best Pairs Cup row and said an opportunity had been missed.

Great Britain tracked Aussie Rory Schlein – who rides on a British ticket – alongside King's Lynn team-mate Robert Lambert in Saturday's event in Esbjerg, Denmark.

Tai Woffinden and Craig Cook had originally been earmarked to compete but the former instead fulfilled contractual obligations with Polish club Wroclaw while Cook missed out through injury.

And while praising Schlein for stepping in, Middleditch was adamant that GB should have had a different contingency plan in place following the withdrawals of Woffinden and Cook.

The Pirates team manager, who had two stints as GB boss, told the Daily Echo: "I was saddened and surprised, really.

"Fair play to Rory for actually stepping up and offering to ride. They were making excuses that they couldn't get riders over there but in this day and age riders can get to a place very quickly.

"I don't know all the ins and outs but it seems to me that riders use planes like buses – although I know the problem is equipment – but I still find it very hard to believe that they didn't have anybody on standby.

"If you have a couple of riders and a reserve, surely you should have another one to step in.

"I don't want to point the finger at anybody but you have to allow for eventualities such as injuries. I had terrible injury problems for a couple of years when I was Team GB boss but you put plans in place.

"I can't believe there wasn't another young Brit who would have jumped at the chance and that we couldn't have got that rider over there with equipment."

The meeting was the third and final round of the Best Pairs Cup – not a Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) event – and was ultimately abandoned after 21 heats.

GB had joined the competition at the third-round stage following the withdrawal of the United States.

Spearheaded by Nicki Pedersen and Niels-Kristian Iversen, Denmark eventually triumphed both on the night and overall.

Pirates star Chris Holder scored 11 points from six rides for Australia while Wimborne Road team-mate Davey Watt travelled as a reserve but did not race.

Poole are not in action this week but will return to the shale in seven days' time when they travel to Belle Vue.

RESULT: Denmark 29, Poland 24, Russia 20, Sweden 16, Great Britain 14, Australia 13 (Chris Holder, 1-2-0-2-3-3), Germany 10.