2018 county cricket previews: Lancashire

In partnership with the Cricketers’ Who’s Who, here’s Wisden’s profile of Lancashire for 2018.

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FORMED: 1864
HOME GROUND: Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
ONE-DAY NAME: Lancashire Lightning
CAPTAIN: Liam Livingstone
2017 RESULTS: CC1: 2/8, RL50: 4/9 North Group, T20: 7/9 North Group
HONOURS: Championship: (9) 1897, 1904, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1934, 1950(s), 2011; Gillette/NatWest/C&G/FP Trophy: (7) 1970, 1971, 1972, 1985, 1990, 1996, 1998; Benson & Hedges Cup: (4) 1984, 1990, 1995, 1996; Pro40/National League/CB40/YB40/RL50: 1999; Sunday League: (4) 1969, 1970, 1989, 1998; T20 Cup: 2015

The lowdown

There are no prizes for the best of the rest but Lancashire looked a tough Championship outfit last summer. In Liam Livingstone, the new captain, the club has one of the most exciting talents in the country – although England are already all over him.

Opener Alex Davies broke through with three Championship hundreds, becoming the first Lancashire wicketkeeper to pass 1,000 first-class runs in a season. Coupled with the arrival of Keaton Jennings, it means that Haseeb Hameed will face stiff competition for an opener’s slot. Shiv Chanderpaul was as adhesive as ever and signed a one-year extension that will take him past his 44th birthday. Leg-spinner Matthew Parkinson looks to have supplanted Simon Kerrigan as the frontline spinner.

The pace attack, so strong in recent seasons, is in transition. Zimbabwean Kyle Jarvis has left after cutting his Kolpak ties to return to international cricket and Ryan McLaren has gone back to South Africa. But those holes are neatly filled by Australian seamer Joe Mennie – a rare example of an overseas player who will stay from spring to autumn – and the veteran Graham Onions, recruited from Durham.

Transfers

IN: Keaton Jennings, Graham Onions (both Durham), Joe Mennie (Aus), James Faulkner (Aus, T20)
OUT: Luke Procter (Northants), Kyle Jarvis (Zim)

Head coach: Glen Chappell

Chapple stepped into the breach at the beginning of last year following Ashley Giles’s decision to return to his native Warwickshire. He took 1,373 wickets in 664 appearances during a 23-year playing career at Old Trafford which ended in 2016 and captained the club to the Championship title in 2011. Former Lancashire and England bowler Paul Allott has been appointed director of cricket, while Andrew Flintoff has joined the Lancashire board.