FORMER Pirates charger Darcy Ward is unsure if he will attend the season-opening meeting held in his name at Wimborne Road next year – but insists fans are in for a treat.

A string of top stars including Emil Sayfutdinov, Maciej Janowski and Chris Holder will descend on Dorset for the Darcy Ward Invitational on March 24 but the man himself is not guaranteed to appear.

The 24-year-old's burgeoning racing career was ended by a crash in Poland in August in 2015, leaving him with serious spinal injuries and confined to a wheelchair.

Queensland-born Ward is currently based Down Under and is undecided on whether to make the lengthy and arduous trip to Britain for a meeting which will raise funds for the Darcy Ward Foundation.

Asked whether he would be present, Ward told the Daily Echo: "We're not too sure yet. I've got a lot going on and am not too sure what our plans are.

"We're going to wait until the middle of February to see how I'm balancing up and how things are at home.

"It's quite hard because of the 24-hour flight, so we're just going to see but of course I would like to be there.

"It's not about one meeting, I would want to see Middlo and Suzi (Pirates team boss Neil Middleditch and his wife) as well as they are pretty much my mum and dad."

Aussie trio Jason Doyle, Troy Batchelor and Rory Schlein have agreed to race for Ward, with Poole's off-season recruit Jack Holder set to get an early chance to impress the home fans.

Reflecting further on the line-up, Ward added: "I'm thankful Matt (Ford, promoter) is still 100 per cent behind me.

"I'm excited to hold the first meeting of the season at Poole – the best club. It's a good line-up and it's going to be awesome for the fans to kick off the season with some good riders.

"After the break, everyone will be excited to see some speedway and what better way than to have an open meeting at Poole."

Sayfutdinov is perhaps the star attraction of the field given his rare appearances on British soil.

Widely viewed as one of world speedway's most exciting talents, Sayfutdinov's stock has risen further following the announcement of his return to the Grand Prix series, courtesy of a wild card.

Ward continued: "I've always had a good relationship with Emil. I think he's the nicest kid in the paddock but also one of the best riders.

"I think it's very sad he hasn't been in the Grand Prix in the past couple of years but he will be back in 2017 and I'm very thankful and honoured he accepted to race in this meeting.

"He is one of the fans' favourites wherever he goes and it will be awesome for them to watch him race."

Darcy Ward Invitational field to date: Emil Sayfutdinov, Chris Holder, Maciej Janowski, Jason Doyle, Nick Morris, Troy Batchelor, Rory Schlein, Josh Grajczonek, Jack Holder, Brady Kurtz, Todd Kurtz.