At a glance
- Founded in 1864
- County Championship winners 13 times
- Relegated to Division Two in 2024
Lancashire County Cricket Club have always been a mainstay of English Cricket. Founded in 1864, as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club, Old Trafford has been their home ever since. One year later, Lancashire beat Middlesex at Old Trafford in their inaugural first-class match.
Early History
In the early years, Lancashire were crowned County Champions three times in four years (1879 and 1882 as joint champions with Nottinghamshire, and 1881).
In fact, between 1879 and 1904, they were either champions or joint champions six times. Then they went back-to-back-to-back champions in 1926-1928.
They won it twice more before the Second World War (1930 and 1934). They would be crowned joint champions again in 1950, this time with Surrey. It would be another 77 years until they won the County Championship outright again in 2011.
Since then, they have been between Divisions One and Two a few times,having won the Division Two title three times (2005, 2013 and 2019).
Limited Overs Successes
It was in One-Day cricket that Lancashire found success. In a 30-year spell, between 1969 and 1999, Lancashire won 18 One-Day trophies. In 1969, they won the inaugural John Player’s County League, and won it again the following year.
Also in 1970, they began a strong run in the Gillette Cup, winning the trophy four times in six years (1970, 1971, 1972, and 1975). After a few quieter years, they won the Lambert & Butler Trophy in 1981. Lancashire County Cricket Club went on to win the Benson & Hedges Cup four times (1984, 1990, 1995, and 1996) and the NatWest Trophy three times (1990, 1996, and 1998). They also claimed the Refuge Cup in 1988 and the Refuge League in 1989.
Lancashire’s one-day dominance continued into the late 90’s and early 2000’s, as they won the AXA League in 1998, the CGU League in 1999 and the National League Division Two in 2003. Their T20 side, Lancashire Lightning won the T20 Blast in 2015
Some Great Players
Some of the best players in the world have played for Lancashire over the years. During their dominance of the One-Day scene in England, players like Farokh Engineer and Clive Lloyd bought the early successes. Some of the other names during their early title wins include David Lloyd, Barry Wood, Peter Lever and Ken Shuttleworth.
Other England Internations to have played for Lancashire include Graeme Fowler, Neil Fairbrother. Former England Captain Michael Atherton made his debut 1987. England’s best all-rounder Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff and England’s greatest ever bowler Sir Jimmy Anderson also played for Lancashire. Sir Jimmy is still playing at the age of 43.
International superstars also came to Lancashire. Pakistan legend Wasim Akram signed for the club in 1988, and was captain for their NatWest Trophy and AXA League trophies in 1998. A year after Akram left, Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan joined in 1999. West Indian Carl Hooper also played for the club in the 2000’s.
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