BRIGG BLOG SELECTS THE BEST CLUB CRICKET TEAS IN NORTHERN LINCOLNSHIRE SINCE THE MID-1970s

A recent evening visit to licensed premises in Brigg town centre coincided with a pool league match being played.
Following the conclusion of this fixture at the Britannia Inn, on Wrawby Street, plates of sandwiches were brought out as refreshments for the players, with those pub customers present also being invited to partake of the refreshments.
As we propped up the bar, this got us thinking about cricket teas (made by willing volunteers) during our playing career which lasted from 1974-2004 and later seasons when we were a much-travelled umpire standing in league matches across northern Lincolnshire.
We have drawn up a list of top tea venues (see below) based on observations over five decades - declaring an obvious personal interest in Brigg's own and therefore leaving them out of the equation.
However, our tea memories begin with the most far-flung fixture the Town club has ever played; it was on the other side of the Pennines.
In the late 1970s, Town took part in a Sunday afternoon friendly at British Steel Irlam, on one of the rare occasions when the Manchester area was the hottest in the UK.
Brigg lost the toss and had to field first - 'chasing leather' in baking conditions.
When the players eventually made their way back to the shade of the pavilion, they found piping hot pie & peas waiting in the tea room!
Town's home match teas were enjoyed at Brigg Town FC's Hawthorns, Sir John Nelthorpe School (in the brick-built refectory adjoining the pavilion), Brigg Sugar Factory Sports & Social Club, off Scawby Road, Scawby Brook, and at the Black Bull, Wrawby Street.
Away fixtures saw Brigg teams tucking into some fine fare.
In the late 1970s/early 1980s the Ferryboat pub at West Butterwick, near the River Trent in the Isle of Axholme, served up really good spreads which included strawberry flans with ice cream.
Scunthorpe Town rang the changes at Heslam Park for some seasons with spicy samosas and other items of Asian cuisine (made by one of the player's wives, we think).
Blyton provided plentiful buffets at the village's Victory Club, as did Alkborough in its West Halton Lane pavilion, Outcasts near Hirst Priory (not far from Crowle), Caistor at its Brigg Road ground, and Barton Town at Marsh Lane.
The Lucarlys venue near Grimsby, which hosted wedding receptions, laid on some bumper spreads for Brigg cricketers in the 1990s. So much so that, after eating their fill, both teams were well and truly stuffed when they ventured back onto the field to resume play.
The Broughton and Hibaldstow clubs always put on good spreads whenever Brigg teams visited, as did Luddington when players and match officials made the short trip across the village to the Lincolnshire Arms pub for mid-match refreshments.
South Kelsey had the district's smallest playing venue (in terms of square yards) but made a big effort with the teas at Skipworth Ridge, served in a detached wooden cabin.
There can be no doubt after the longest cricket tea we've encountered.
This 'honour' goes to Broughton, who were playing a Lincs League home game against Scothern.
As England had an important football match that afternoon, the league agreed that, if both teams agreed, matches could begin earlier (in the morning) and then take a mid-innings break (and tea) so that everyone could watch the live TV coverage.
When cricket resumed after the best part of two hours in the pavilion, it was an anti-climax and no-one seemed to enjoy the latter part of the match very much.
Umpiring from 2005 afforded an opportunity to sample teas at venues seldom visited, if at all, while playing for Brigg.
These included some Premier Division grounds like Cleethorpes and Bracebridge Heath.
They both laid on high standard fare. But one game at the Lincoln club proved to be very lengthy indeed - all the 100 overs allocated being required.
Feeling peckish during the evening drive back down the A15, we turned off for Hibaldstow and visited the village chippie... about 9pm!
Towards the other end of the spectrum came officiating Sunday matches in the lowest division of the North Lindsey League.
A couple of times we were allocated to Upton & Kexby, in West Lindsey, where the teas were good and served in pleasant surroundings.
Based on our observations as a player and umpire over many years, the top local club for consistently high-standard teas would be Messingham, followed (in no particular order) by Appleby-Frodingham (at Brumby Hall, Scunthorpe), Broughton, Alkborough and Outcasts.
Checking back in our archives, we found a piece about Messingham, written in May 2010 after we had umpired a George Marshall Trophy home tie against South Kelsey (both being Premier Division sides at the time).
We praised the teas as being of a very high standard, featuring hot chunky sausages, chips, pasta and salad... followed by a sizeable slice of gateau.
Sadly, cricket teas appear to be going out of fashion in some leagues across the country.
There are various reasons including the tea interval prolonging the length of games well into the evening, the ever-rising cost of buying food, and difficulties in finding volunteers to prepare and serve the fare.
While we were playing Sunday games for Brocklesby Park in the 1980s and 1990s, the instruction for all home games was "bring tea for two to share."
So before setting off for games at the historic venue near the Earl of Yarborough's Brocklesby Hall, all the home players packed sandwiches, wafers and cakes into a couple of plastic lunch boxes.
Apart from someone switching on the tea urn to provide hot drinks during the interval, the job was sorted... other than washing up.
A few seasons ago the Lincolnshire County Cricket League introduced a new competition for some of its lower-ranked teams.
The Supplementary Cup rules do not include providing sit-down teas - only a quick drink being taken between innings.
Fewer overs are also played (30 instead of 45) so the games (qualifying groups, semi-finals and final) are much shorter than usual.
This competition has proved popular and will be held again in 2022, with group matches coming up for Brigg Town and Broughton 2nds over the coming weeks.
Although the number of cricket teams and leagues has diminished since the peak period of popularity circa 1992, the overall standard of teas has risen considerably, as has the standard of grounds on which games are played  - resulting in much higher average team scores when compared with the 1970s.
In that decade and the next, some clubs (remaining nameless) didn't offer much as teas - a couple of pre-wrapped sandwiches and perhaps a shop-bought cake or a wafer bar, to be consumed in the changing rooms. No cuppas, either, just a shared bottle of orange squash!
As a sports reporter, many memorable lunches and teas were enjoyed alongside Lincolnshire Minor Counties players and officials during home and away games over six seasons in the 1980s.  
There was smoked salmon in Hartlepool, steak pie at Leek (Staffordshire) with a souvenir mug from the Potteries for every visiting guest, and an introduction to peas pudding at Jesmond, Newcastle (all on chilly days).
Frozen food firm Ross showcased some of its fine products whenever the company's Grimsby ground hosted county fixtures.
When Lincolnshire visited the famous Old Trafford Test cricket venue in Manchester for a NatWest Trophy tie in June 1988, the sponsors provided lavish huge food hampers (plus packs of beer) for a dozen or more reporters in the huge press-box. But only four seats were taken.
After the match, one visiting member of the media (not us) boarded the coach back to Lincolnshire piled high with some of the left-over hampers, then bemoaned the fact he couldn't carry them all back.
Earlier, Lincolnshire had managed to bowl out one of the strongest first class county sides, which included a number of Test stars.
However, Lancs had rattled up 305 - ruling out the chance of a Minor Counties minnows' giant-killing success hitting the headlines. Lincs replied with 147.
Wicketkeeper Nigel Dobbs, who worked for a roofing company in Brigg, was in the Lincs line-up, together with seam bowler Rick Burton who, for some years, was a transport manager on Brigg's Island Carr industrial estate.