CHANGING FACE OF BRUMBY HALL

Attending a recent umpires' meeting at Brumby Hall, Scunthorpe, I was struck by the removal of the trees on the entrance to the Appleby-Frodingham sportsground. This is being done to make way for a large sports development being spearheaded by North Lincolnshire Council.
I came past again this morning and a building site has now developed on the edge of Brumby Hall, just off Ashby Road, near the Civic Centre.
It's not affecting the cricket ground, but the vista will never be the same.

CONCENTRATING ON THE LEAGUE

Caistor Town 3rds' scheduled home game against Scunthorpe Town 3rds in Lincs League division four will now take place at Hibaldstow CC on Saturday, May 22.
That's the day when most Lincs League teams will be in action in the first round of either the George Marshall Trophy or Bob Welton Cup.
However, the third strings at Scunthorpe and Caistor do not qualify to take part, as their respective first and second teams will be in action.
Just in case you are wondering, Scunthorpe 3rds use Hibaldstow as their base for home games.

OWMBY DOUBLE

From Ciaron Deegan
Owmby CC's presentation night will be on Friday 20th November at Welton Village Hall. Trophies to be given to junior and senior teams (7.30 start).
The Owmby AGM will be on Sunday 22nd November at the Bottle and Glass, Normanby-by-Spital.

FOUR IN, FOUR OUT DOWN SOUTH

From Ann Boulton
Burgh le Marsh have been admitted to the South Lincs & Border League for 2010 along with North Luffenham, Stamford 2nds and Spalding 3rds.
The league has "lost" Boston to the ECB League, Caythorpe through resignation and Oakham 1sts and 2nd who are going to play in Leicestershire.
For the first time this year, the league has awarded a trophy to the umpire with the best average mark; it went to Roger Alderton, who comes from the Spalding area.

TAKE YOUR MARKS

It's possible umpires throughout the Lincolnshire League will be marked next season.
Currently only those in the premier division are graded - but there's a move within the umpiring ranks to try to get additional marking introduced in divisions one, two, three and four from next season.
Another alternative is to grade officials in the premier, division one and division two - but not the lowest two sections.
It will obviously need all three associations representing umpires in the Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Lincoln areas to agree, or it's a non-starter. And one of those has yet to consider the matter.
The Lincolnshire League will also have to sanction whatever proposal the umpires collectively may decide to request.
The issue was raised, briefly, at the league's AGM last month by one of the umpires' representatives, who explained there was an idea to grade officials not only in the premier but also in divisions one and two - something which fitted in well with the national policy to help spot, and fast-track, up-and-coming officials.
The immediate response was very positive. Indeed, two club reps suggested it would be better, and simpler, if marking was done for all divisions - not just premier, one and two.
Should all three umpires' associations be in agreement, the proposal should re-appear at the Lincs League's mid-winter meeting in January at Market Rasen CC.
If the majority of clubs approve it - and it will be surprising if there's much, or any, opposition - the official league scoresheet will require only a slight amendment to bring the change into force from next April.
It's long been the practice to mark all umpires in matches in the North Lindsey League on Sundays - a trophy going to the official with the highest marks at the end of the season. The same applies in the Lincs League premier division.
So it is somewhat strange the other four sections of the Lincs League - that's the majority of games played in the competition - have not seen the marking of umpires in recent years.
It was the case some time ago, and for many years, that captains throughout the Lincs League were asked to comment on the scoresheet. But there was no marking system: We skippers made comments like "Very Good" or "Good" to sum up the match officials. Not very scientific, which is probably why it was dropped. However it did give at least a guide.
Currently, with no marking in divisions one to four inclusive, umpires have no idea what the teams really think of the way they have performed.
True, captains aren't usually qualified umpires but markings given collectively, and evened out over a full season, will offer a reasonable reflection of how officials have performed.
It will help those - and there may be only a few - who are considering moving up a level to begin umpiring in the Lincs League premier division. The marks will also assist those who make appointments to matches and also the people who oversee umpires' development - locally and at a higher level.

LINCS MEMORIES FOR CRICKET LOVERS

It was great to be offered a second chance this year (as late substitute) to talk about our favourite sport at a monthly meeting of the Lincolnshire Cricket Lovers at Chichester Road, Cleethorpes.
This time we wound the clock back 20-25 years to look at Lincolnshire Minor Counties cricket - grounds, players and performances. That was during the period when Geoff Robinson (Ross Sports, Grimsby) was just coming to the end of his stint as captain, to be replaced by fellow veteran Harry Pougher (Lincoln Lindum). Among the audience were two Meggies who played for Lincs during that period - Jeff Todd and Bob Leafe.
Highlight of this period for Lincs was the NatWest Trophy tie at Old Trafford, the Test ground, when our boys, Minnows of the competition, managed to bowl out the mighty Lancashire...after they'd topped 300!
There was also reference to some notable performances in local club cricket, including the 1,000th wicket taken for Caistor by Wes Allison, and ex-Grimsby Town wing-half Brian Clifton riding high in the South Humberside Alliance with SCM.
A few questions came from the floor at the end of the talk, with Howard Swain (Cleethorpes) and Chris Keywood (Hartsholme) among those raising their hands.
We also got in a quick "plug" for Lincs Cricket Latest and a few members of the audience who had not heard of the site might now pay us a visit. If you are one of them: A warm welcome aboard!
Last night's talk/discussion centred on my bulging scrapbooks packed with cuttings from the period. I was asked whether the information could be made available online.
Now that would be a labour of love!

BANANA BOOST

We mentioned Brigg Town's Tony Glossop recently for what must be a record run of successive ducks for a club in northern Lincs. Well, just to redress the balance, here he is (back row, extreme right) in the mid-1980s in trophy-winning form, having collected the Golden Banana at the presentation night, held at the Ancholme Inn. Next to him on the back row is medium-pacer bowler, Andy Willey, 2nd X1 skipper. Left to right on the front row are Derek Chambers, who famously hit 89 on his debut, and first team opening batsman Tony "Diker" Bailey, who many well remember from his days with Broughton.