JUSTGO FROM BRIGG TO ENJOY COUNTY CRICKET... HOPEFULLY

Brigg Blog, and other local sports fans, might have a cricket-related Test for the new JustGo dial-a-ride bus service introduced to our area by North Lincolnshire Council.
Lincolnshire's Minor Counties cricket team plays a solitary three-day championship fixture in the north of the county every year - at Cleethorpes.
Is JustGo willing and able to run fans from Brigg to the resort? Or is 25 miles considered too far? JustGo is based in East Yorkshire - about the same distance from Brigg (via the Humber Bridge) as Cleethorpes.
The other travel possibility for Lincolnshire v Norfolk is an early morning JustGo or Hornsbys bus to Barnetby and then a train to Cleethorpes.
This game opens on Sunday, July 11 and continues on Monday and Tuesday (July 12 and 13).
Brigg Blog, and other cricket fans, have previously travelled to watch Minor Counties games at Cleethorpes on Mondays and Tuesdays (Sunday public transport provision proving too challenging).
There's a spacious licensed bar/clubhouse at the resort's ground which explains why driving there is not an option for some of us. A pint or two in the sun is very much part of the average spectator's day out.
During the lengthy walk from the railway station to the venue, it's standard practice to enjoy a hearty breakfast at a seaside cafe, and to have a pub or cafe snack on the way home.
What for decades was known as the Minor Counties Championship has now been renamed the National Counties Championship though few, if any, saw 'Minor' as a derogatory term. Lincolnshire compete in Eastern Division One.
The county Development Team will be playing one of its games at Barton Town's well-appointed Marsh Lane ground on Monday/Tuesday, August 2 and 3, when Northumberland will provide the opposition. Brigg Town will be playing a Lincs League game at the same venue later this season.
All Lincolnshire County Cricket Club officials have been re-elected: President John Van-der-Vord, Chairman Chris Keywood and Chief Executive Chris Farmer. Mark Fell will continue as Director of Cricket and also oversee the Development XI. Carl Wilson will again captain the 1st XI.
Mark Footitt, the former Nottinghamshire pace bowler, has been signed as the County Club's professional for 2021.
Brigg Blog's thanks go to Chris Keywood for the update. We recall playing for Brigg Town many against Hartsholme when Chris appeared for the Lincoln club, and also against John Van-der-Vord at Sir John Nelthorpe School.
We've known Mark Fell since he joined Lincolnshire as a batsman from Nottinghamshire, the Trent Bridge-based first class county, in the mid-1980s. During the early part of Felly's lengthy career we were travelling the country, as well as the county, reporting on Lincolnshire Minor Counties games for the Scunthorpe & Grimsby Telegraphs... and getting paid to watch cricket.
And finally... just a reminder that Brigg Town Cricket Club have no game today (Saturday, April 24). They have yet to start their Lincolnshire League season.
 
PICTURED: Lincolnshire in Minor Counties action at Cleethorpes, a Trans-Pennine train from Barnetby after arriving at the resort station on a county cricket match day, and a JustGo bus in Brigg.