CLEETHORPES

By Brian Sanderson,

Today was a chance to combine  two of my favorite  cricketing subjects ie Seaside grounds and Minor Counties. On my cricketing schedule was the Lincolnshire match against Norfolk at Cleethorpes.The weather was  very sunny so I settled for the shade of a tree.

Lincolnshire batted first and were progressing well until Chris Brown bowled his off-spin. He tempted Bansal to be caught which enabled him to secure his 400 th Minor County wicket. and it is his birthday today. He is 41 years old and has played for Badureliya Sports Club, Cheshire, Essex Seconds, Lancashire, MCCA Representive X1, Minor Counties, Minor County under 25 and Norfolk. The score was 58 for 1.

The next wicket fell on the last ball before lunch to Gary Park with a brilliant caught and bowled. Gary was born in Natal and has played for  Cambridge MCCU, Derbyshire, Durham, Durham Seconds, Unicorn, Unicorn A and Norfolk. So you can see from the above two players Minor County cricket  still attracts  good cricketers.

At lunch Lincolnshire were 91 for 2 . They could have lost more wickets but Norfolk dropped some catches.after lunch Lincolnshire lost wickets steadily due to good bowling  and some good catching. The highest scorer was Freeman with 37.

When David Lucas,the Lincolnshire captain , the score was 182 for 8.He has played for Northampton,
Nottingham, Worcester , Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. So he is another player of great experience.

The tea time score was 186 for 9. Among the crowd were a number of Professional Cricket Watchers;

1- the two brothers from Doncaster who Tony saw at Cheltenham.

2-A Worcester supporter who I saw at Harrogate a few weeks ago,

3- A Yorkshire supporter who was at Belper Meadows last week.

4- Ken from Leeds who I have known for about eight years. I gave him a left back to Leeds before he goes to work tonight.

My the end of the day Norfolk were 89 for 4 with David Lucas taking 3 for 26. The ground is about a hundred yards from the front and has friendly atmosphere with a chance to meet some old friends. So I would recommend other cricket followers to go to the ground next year or even Monday and Tuesday.