GRESHAM Cheetahs' top rider Jason Crump wants something done about the state of the speedway track at Oxford.

He hit out after crashing in the very first heat of Friday's 51-39 defeat against Poole, which leaves Cheetahs rooted to the foot of the Elite League table.

At first, his injury was thought to be a broken collar-bone, but on Saturday it was discovered that no bones had been broken and he was just badly bruised.

Crump said: "I have broken the bone a few times in the past and I thought it had gone again as I came down very hard. Only on Thursday, I was in a 100mph longtrack crash in Germany and I was very dodgy even before Friday's crash."

Crump wants action to sort the track out at Sandy Lane.

"I am very concerned about Oxford speedway at the moment and for Steve Purchase. He has put a lot of money into Oxford, but we don't want Friday's situation to carry on.

"It's obvious to everyone that the people preparing the track don't know what they are doing. We'll all have to sit down and take a good hard look at things."

Promoter Purchase was a very disappointed man after Friday's defeat.

He agreed something has to be done, saying: "I have set the wheels in motion to find a new track man. We have invested heavily in equipment to do the job, but it's not happening.

"Not for the first time this season, the track was overwatered. We have to act - and act quickly."

Meanwhile, Cheetahs travel to Wolverhampton tonight for an Elite League clash and will be hoping for better luck than on their last visit when they lost out in the final heat.

Crump hopes to line up for Cheetahs despite Friday's crash.

Wolves: Ermolenko, Stancl, Loram, Karlsson, Grieves, Jensen.

Oxford: Crump, Staechmann, Johnston, Hurry, Schofield, Hare.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.