'SMASHING' CRICKET MATCH IN BRIGG BECAME THE TALK OF THE TOWN

A recent conversation with an old friend on licensed premises in Brigg reminded us of a cracking game of cricket played by youngsters in the town about 50 years ago.
We both remembered a big six being hit on the kids' play area between the Rec Ground and South View Avenue one summer evening in the early 1970s and the ball clearing the hawthorn hedge, crossing the road and smashing through the living room window of one of the houses belonging to a well-known Brigg councillor.
We'll keep his identity and that of the six-hitting batsman to ourselves, but the important thing was the councillor gave the ball back, which was a sporting thing to do as (collectively) we didn't have much money to fund kit for games played on this patch of grass (pictured above recently).
The budget did not stretch to batting pads to protect the shins, even though we always used a hard ball. And only one or two boys took along bats which were used by everyone taking part. There was a set of stumps, often without bails on top.
It wasn't us who broke the councillor's window, by the way; nor the person who reminded us of this famous happening on the Springbank estate - news of which soon spread. Among youngsters, it became the talk of the town.
However, the player who hit the smashing six later played league cricket for Brigg Town and Broughton.
In these makeshift matches half a century ago, any batsman who launched the ball into a garden on South View Avenue had to comply with the ground rule Six and out... and fetch!
This was to deter players from threatening nearby windows or from damaging cars parked on the street.
This rule served its purpose, in most cases.
Balls sometimes found their way into the gardens of prefabs at the western end of Woodbine Grove, but they were demolished later in the 1970s.
Young boys who gathered on the South View Avenue grass for morning, afternoon and evening cricket matches switched sports to football when the League season began in August, with cricket resuming after Scunthorpe United and Grimsby Town had played their final League games in early May.
It was 'coats for goalposts' and, as we reminded our friend recently, the football we used was of the original leather variety, which grew increasingly heavy in wet weather. You saw stars, literally, if a header was attempted after heavy rain.
We took the ball home to our council house on Central Square and placed it next to the open fire in the kitchen to dry out.
Steam would rise from the surface as the heat did its job.
Balls, when dry, were given some boot polish, but the budget didn't run to tins of heavy duty dubbin which would have offered more protection to the leather in terms of absorbing water from sodden grass.
Glebe Road School did have some, though, which came in circular green tins. We think it was Army surplus - perhaps left over from the era of National Service when recruits had to polish their boots to a high standard.

PICTURED: A recent view of part of the grassy area near South View used by local children for football and cricket matches in the early 1970s, and the old prefab bungalows at the western end of Woodbine Grove.