Cricketers battle MP in unlikely bus race match-up

Professional cricketers laid down their bats to race a junior minister in what was an unlikely match-up behind the wheel of a bus.

Essex County Cricket Club's Matt Critchley and Paul Walter got in the driving seat along with Simon Lightwood MP at North Weald Airfield.

The event aimed to demonstrate the skills required to be a bus driver and encourage others to take up bus driving apprenticeships.

Walter said the quirky contest "felt like something out of Top Gear".

The all-rounder was declared the winner of the challenge on Tuesday, having racked up the best score on the course.

"To be honest, once I saw Matt could do it I thought 'anyone can do it'," he said.

"Although I think I struggled on the theory; I didn't know what an air compression brake was, and still don't, but it's quite fun when you press it."

The publicity stunt, organised by First Bus, followed £1bn funding being announced to deliver London-style buses across England.

Critchley and Walter were invited by First Bus to take on the time-trialled obstacle course, designed to mimic the real bus driving test.

First Bus also recently released an Essex County Cricket Club-themed bus as part of the partnership between the two organisations.

Critchley laughed off knocking over a handful of cones on the course, claiming: "I was too busy practising my small talk.

"But it's not too bad, it's like driving a bus - once you do it once, you don't forget."

He continued: "I was a little bit nervous, to be honest.

"I didn't really have it in my diary that I'd be driving a bus at any point in my life."

The DfT said under its bus funding plan, money would be allocated based on levels of deprivation and population.

Ministers say Southend-on-Sea will receive "unprecedented" amounts.

Under the Labour government's Bus Services Bill, local authorities could "take back control" of services through franchising.

Lightwood said the event in Essex helped him better understand the "commitment and skill" needed to drive a bus.

He added: "It was really hard. I've got such respect for our trainee drivers, it was a really gruelling course."

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