BRIGG COUNCILLOR SUPPORTING THE RETURN OF COUNTY CRICKET TO NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE

Brigg Blog is very pleased to see our town's Coun Rob Waltham, as leader of North Lincolnshire Council,  welcoming the return of county cricket to North Lincolnshire for the first time in 31 years.
It will happen, weather permitting, this weekend, if you are interested in going along and taking a look.

FROM CHRIS O'ROURKE, NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL

Heslam Park, Scunthorpe, is ready to host Lincolnshire versus Cumberland on Sunday 27 May 2018 between 11am and around 6pm.
The T20 will be the first county game for the Ashby Road club, bringing top quality cricket to Scunthorpe for first time in 30 years.
Richard Barwell, chairman of Scunthorpe Cricket Club, welcomed the county match to the town saying: “This is a brilliant opportunity, not only for the club, but a chance for everyone in the town to see top quality cricket at home.”
T20, or Twenty20, is much shorter version of cricket than other forms of the game. With matches closer to the length of other popular team sports such as rugby or football, T20 cricket has helped spread the game to a new audience.
The Lincolnshire and Cumberland teams will play two matches of around one hour and 40 minutes each, one in the morning from 11am and one in the afternoon.
During the day, there will also be opportunities for families to try the game out for themselves, with demos, mini-games and soft ball cricket.
Improvements have been made to the facilities at Heslam Park over a number years and they are now among some of the best in Lincolnshire. The Scunthorpe ground has beat off competition from the likes of Grantham, Cleethorpes and Lincoln to host the Lincolnshire Cumberland game this May.
Richard continued: “It has been our goal to bring county class cricket to the ground for many years, and we’re proud to be finally hosting it here at Heslam Park.
“We have lots of enthusiastic younger players at Heslam Park and we hope by hosting more high profile matches like this we can build on that success, engage more people with the game and continue to build our good, strong, cricket club.
“Hosting the match will also get our local players on the radar of the county clubs and we know some of our guys can play at that level.”
Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, Cllr Rob Waltham, said: “We’re expecting to see fans from right across Lincolnshire and from Cumbria coming down to North Lincolnshire for this county game and so this is another opportunity to showcase our area on a national sporting stage.
“Cricket is such a quintessentially British sport and bringing high class cricket to our area will help local people rediscover the game.”
Tickets for the day are available on the door and cost just £3 per adult."
Lunch, drinks and other refreshments will be available throughout the day.
Find Heslam Park on Facebook for more information or future fixtures.

FROM CHRIS KEYWOOD, CHAIRMAN OF LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB

Included in the Lincolnshire squad is former Nottinghamshire player, Bilal Shafayat, and Louis Kimber who has already scored two centuries in the competition, one of which was a devastating innings of 162 not out off 55 balls and contained fifteen sixes. 
Cumberland are likely to be captained by Gary Pratt, who famously, whilst fielding as a substitute for England at Trent Bridge, ran out Australia captain, Ricky Ponting.
Lincolnshire squad:  C. Wilson (captain), C. Louth, J. Potticary, L.Kimber, B. Shafayat, J. Cheer, H. Warwick, J. Kendall, C. Free, A. Willerton, J.Kimber, M. Newbold.

PICTURED ABOVE: Coun Rob Waltham pictured by Ken Harrison, Brigg Matters Magazine.