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Information About

Lancashire County Cricket Club




  oneday Lancashire Lightning
  coach Mike Watkinson
  captain Mark Chilton
  overseas1 VVS Laxman
  overseas2 Muttiah Muralitharan
  founded 1864
  ground Old Trafford
  capacity 15,000
  fcdebutvs Middlesex
  fcdebutyr 1865
  fcdebutvenue Old Trafford
  champs 8 (''inc 1 shared'')
  nlwins 5
  fptwins 7
  website LCCC


Lancashire County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen major County clubs which make up the English domestic Cricket structure, representing the historic county of Lancashire . Its limited-overs team is called ''Lancashire Lightning''.

The club is based at Old Trafford in Stretford , Trafford . Usually, one match each year is played at Liverpool and Blackpool . The club has also used other home venues in the past.

Lancashire currently has a strong team which finished as runners-up to Sussex CCC in the 2006 County Championship . The most well known player currently on Lancashires books is Andrew Flintoff , though he rarely plays for the county due to his England commitments. In the upcoming 2007 season Muttiah Muralitharan will play for the county.


HONOURS


First XI honours

  • Champion County (1) - 1881; '''shared (3) - '''1879, 1882, 1889

  • County Championship (7) - 1897, 1904, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1934; '''shared (1) - '''1950

  • Division Two

    • Gillette/NatWest/C&G Trophy (7) - 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1990, 1996, 1998

    • Sunday/National League (5) - 1969, 1970, 1989, 1998, 1999

    • Division Two

      • Twenty20 Cup (0) -

      • Benson and Hedges Cup (4) - 1984, 1990, 1995, 1996

      • Second XI honours

      • Second XI Championship (3) - 1964, 1986, 1997; '''shared (0) -'''

      • Second XI Trophy (0) -

      • Minor Counties Championship (7) - 1907, 1934, 1937, 1948, 1949, 1960, 1964; '''shared (0) -'''

      • Other honours

      • Refuge Cup (1) - 1988



      EARLIEST CRICKET

      Cricket may not have reached Lancashire until the 18th century. A match on Brinnington Moor in August 1781 is the earliest known reference to cricket being played in the county. This match was reported in the ''Manchester Journal'' on 1 September 1781.

      In 1816, the Manchester Cricket Club was founded and soon became representative of Lancashire as a county in the same way that Sheffield Cricket Club and Nottingham Cricket Club represented Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

      On 23, 24 & 25 July 1849, the Sheffield and Manchester clubs played each other at Hyde Park Ground, Sheffield but the fixture was called "Yorkshire ''versus'' Lancashire". As such, it was the first match to involve a Lancashire county team and also, therefore, the first " Roses Match ". Yorkshire won by 5 wickets.

      In 1856, the Manchester club moved to Old Trafford, which has been the home of Lancashire cricket ever since.

      ''For more information about Lancashire cricket's early history, see Manchester Cricket Club .''


      ORIGIN OF CLUB

      Lancashire County Cricket Club was formed on January 12, 1864, at a meeting of thirteen Lancashire cricket clubs in Manchester. In 1865, Lancashire CCC joined the County Championship and played its initial first-class match ''versus'' Middlesex CCC at Old Trafford on 20, 21 & 22 July.


      CLUB HISTORY

      Lancashire has known two illustrious periods in its history. In the late 19th century, when it had great players like the tragic Johnny Briggs , the pugnacious A N Hornby and classy Test batsmen Johnny Tyldesley and Archie MacLaren , Lancashire was frequently in County Championship title contention.

      Lancashire's heyday was the period between the two World Wars when it was the only realistic contender to the dominance of its eternal rival Yorkshire CCC and the "Roses Match" was almost as fiercely contested as The Ashes . Lancashire won the title three years in succession from 1926 to 1928 with further wins in 1930 and 1934. They went through the 1930 season unbeaten, winning 10 matches and gaining first innings points in 8. Dick Tyldesley and Ted McDonald took over 100 wickets while Ernest Tyldesley, Frank Watson and Jack Iddon passed 1000 runs.

      Since then, apart from one shared title in 1950, Lancashire have not won the County Championship. Its supporters have found compensation in fast bowling great Brian Statham , the club's greatest opener Cyril Washbrook and in Limited Overs Cricket . Lancashire has at times dominated the one day game, particularly in the 1970s when Clive Lloyd was playing.

      Making full use of overseas stars such as Lloyd and Farokh Engineer , captain Jack Bond won a succession of one-day crowns in the company of David Lloyd , Barry Wood , Frank Hayes and 'Flat Jack' Simmons.

      Impish middle order batsman Neil Fairbrother , Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram and seamers such as Paul Allott and Peter Martin continued to bring success Lancashire's way, while long-time England captain Mike Atherton has been replaced as Lancashire's biggest contemporary star with the emergence of Andrew Flintoff .


      FUTURE PROSPECTS


      Lancashire's failure to win the County Championship outright since the war still rankles with their passionate supporters; however, Lancashire remain among the favourites for any one-day competition, and the leagues of the 'Red Rose' county continue to be a fertile breeding ground for young talent in the game.


      GROUND

      Since its formation Lancashire has played its home matches at Old Trafford , located in Stretford , to the west of Manchester city centre. Old Trafford is one of the largest cricket venues in the United Kingdom, and has played host to international matches since 1884.

      In recent years, the club has considered moving to a new ground, with sites in East Manchester and Wigan discussed,1 but following a long period of discussions and rumours the club decided to remain at Old Trafford, which it hopes to redevelop.2

      The need for an improved ground was highlighted when Old Trafford surprisingly lost out to is awaited for the redevelopment, costed at £30m. The Enquirer news story

      Lancashire matches are also occasionally played at Stanley Park, Blackpool and Aigburth , Liverpool.


      PLAYERS

      See Also: List of Lancashire CCC players




      Current squad

      Players with international caps are listed in bold.

      Brad Hodge played for Lancashire as an overseas player in 2007 but was replaced by Laxman in Mid-August as Hodge prepared for the Twenty20 World Championship . Hodge will return to Lancashire in 2008 as their sole overseas player.


      Notable players past and present







      RECORDS

      • Highest Total For - 863 v Surrey at The Oval 1990

      • Highest Total Against - 707-9 declared by Surrey at The Oval 1990

      • Lowest Total For - 25 v Derbyshire at Manchester 1871

      • Lowest Total Against - 22 by Glamorgan at Liverpool 1924



      Best Partnership for each wicket

      • 1st - 368 AC MacLaren and RH Spooner v Gloucestershire at Liverpool 1903

      • 2nd - 371 FB Watson and GE Tyldesley v Surrey at Manchester 1928

      • 3rd - 364 MA Atherton and NH Fairbrother v Surrey at The Oval 1990

      • 4th - 358 SP Titchard and GD Lloyd v Essex at Chelmsford 1996

      • 5th - 360 SG Law and CL Hooper v Warwickshire at Edgbaston 2003

      • 6th - 278 J Iddon and HRW Butterworth v Sussex at Manchester 1932

      • 7th - 248 GD Lloyd and ID Austin v Yorkshire at Leeds 1997

      • 8th - 158 J Lyon and RM Ratcliffe v Warwickshire at Manchester 1979

      • 9th - 142 LOS Poidevin and A Kermode v Sussex at Eastbourne 1907

      • 10th - 173 J Briggs and R Pilling v Surrey at Liverpool 1885



      Individual records

      • Highest Score - 424 AC MacLaren v Somerset at Taunton 1895

      • Most Runs in Season - 2633 JT Tyldesley in 1901

      • Most Runs in Career - 34222 GE Tyldesley 1909-1936

      • Best Bowling - 10-46 W Hickton v Hampshire at Manchester 1870

      • Best Match Bowling - 17-91 H Dean v Yorkshire at Liverpool 1913

      • Wickets in Season - 198 EA McDonald 1925

      • Wickets in Career - 1816 JB Statham 1950-1968



      Most first-class runs for Lancashire

      Qualification - 20000 runs {Link without Title}

      Most first-class wickets for Lancashire

      Qualification - 1000 wickets {Link without Title}


      Lancashire facts and feats



      SEE ALSO



      FOOTNOTES






      REFERENCES



      EXTERNAL LINKS