FORMER Pirates star Darcy Ward has branded as "scary" and "sad" the future of British speedway following the controversial shake-up of team-building rules.

Most SGB Premiership clubs have elected to avoid big-name signings for next year after swingeing changes were agreed by promoters at their annual summit last month.

Recruiting top stars became problematic as Elite League-only riders in 2016 had their averages multiplied by 1.4 to bring them into line with second-tier ratings.

That left certain chargers with weighty averages and Poole chief Matt Ford ruled Chris Holder out of his team plans due to the "restrictive" nature of the former world champion's bumper 12.53 rating, more than a quarter of the 50-point team-building limit.

The 24-year-old Ward, whose career was ended by racing crash in August last year, was one of British speedway's biggest attractions during his riding days. And the two-time world under-21 champion believes speedway on these shores is on a downward trajectory.

He told the Daily Echo: "The way the sport is going in England is a bit scary and a bit sad, really.

"Two years ago, I thought the goal was there would be teams with multiple riders, so we could get the good guys back and they wouldn't need to do as many meetings.

"But now they are just throwing that away. It's very blind, the rules they have made.

"From where I thought the sport was going, to what it will be next year, is not what I thought they were trying to do. In my eyes it's going down and it's very sad.

"What would happen if I was still racing? My average would be 13 or 14. Would they want me to ride in the league?

"If Matt couldn't fit Chris in then he wouldn't have been able to fit me in either, unless he made an exception.

"If it was the case that Matt said he could not build a team around me, I would have left British speedway, and that's not something I would have wanted to do."

Ward is organising his own meeting to kick off the season at Wimborne Road with Emil Sayfutdinov, Maciej Janowski, Jason Doyle and Chris Holder among the confirmed starters.

The meeting is due to take place on Friday, March 24.

Pirates have named five of their seven riders for 2017 so far with Krzysztof Kasprzak, Hans Andersen, Jack Holder, Nicolai Klindt and James Shanes all confirmed.

The sixth member of the septet is due to be unveiled at tonight's Riders' Equipment Fund quiz night in the Champs Bar.

Shanes and Klindt are due to attend the event, which begins at 7.30pm and is set to be the first of the fundraising organisation's social evenings of the off-season.

Doors open at 7pm and entry is £5 with a £1 discount for REF members.