Leaving the car at home - if you have one - allows the chance to enjoy a few beers at the match while watching the action.
The next home fixture for Lincolnshire County Cricket Club's Minor Counties squad will be on Sunday, May 14 against Norfolk at Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln (11am start).
You can get to Lincoln from Brigg (changing trains at Barnetby) on a Saturday. However, there's no chance on a Sunday.
The only direct bus service from Brigg to Lincoln is Fridays only.
Our periodic Wednesday trips from Brigg to Lincoln, to visit an elderly relative, now involve taking a taxi from Brigg to Barnetby station to catch a train (pictured above) to the county capital.
It used to be possible to get a bus from Brigg to Barnetby Top on Wednesdays and walk down the hill in time for the mid-morning train to Lincoln, but the bus times have been changed so you now miss the rail connection. Integrated public transport provision?
Back in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, many county cricket clubs - first class and Minor Counties - used train travel to get players to away games. After Doctor Beeching had swung his axe on secondary routes and branch lines, this became increasingly difficult. So British Railways lost what the bean-counters call a regular revenue stream, and also some high-profile customers using trains, including a good many Test players. League football clubs must also have been affected in this way.
FROM CHRIS KEYWOOD, LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB
Cambridgeshire won the toss and elected to field, a decision they would come to regret as Lincolnshire’s openers, Jonny Tattersall and Louis Kimber, put on 184 for the first wicket to put the home side in a strong position. Kimber fell for a fluent 90 off 98 balls and, although Matt Lineker was dismissed cheaply, Dan Freeman and Tattersall kept up the onslaught adding 112 for the third wicket. Tattersall was finally dismissed for 127 off 122 balls, his maiden century for the county. Freeman and Tillcock pushed the final total to 348 before Tillcock was run out off the last ball of the innings, Freeman finishing undefeated on 64.
Cambridgeshire made a steady start before Andy Carter dismissed opener Asim Butt with the total on 32. Gradually all six Lincolnshire bowlers worked their way through the Cambridgeshire batting line-up with only James Williams reaching a half century before Adam Tillcock dismissed him. The lower Cambridgeshire order showed little resistance apart from a last wicket stand of 39 between Sam Rippington and Josh Arksey, the visitors being finally all out for 243 in the forty-sixth over.
All six Lincolnshire bowlers took wickets which will put them in good heart as they travel to Penrith for their next match on Sunday, May 7 against Cumberland.
Co-ordination would be fine except for the fact that it's not likely to happen. Firstly the legal framework is biased heavily in favour of competition (co-operation between operators being deemed anti- competitive) and secondly, following on from this, the penny packet compartmentalised nature of planning in England generally and the geographically fragmented local authorities in particular is not well suited to transport development. I'm afraid that, hereabout anyway, public transport provision will become more of a mode of last resort for those with no alternative and an irrelevance to those better placed.
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