Civil war breaks out in Lancashire

In recent days in England, the temperature has reached a daytime high exceeding 30 C. Unfortunately, there has been little professional cricket for me to watch nearby.

This is a result of the current organization of the cricket calendar. Although the domestic T20 competition, The Blast, is underway, there is an interlude in the four-day county championship and the England’s women’s team has completed a three-match T20 series against New Zealand. In this hiatus, heat of a different kind has been generated within Lancashire County Cricket Club.

A group of former players have united to express their concerns about the way the club is being run. This was partly sparked by Lancashire’s declining fortunes on the field of play. Last year, the club suffered the indignity of relegation from Division One of the County Championship.

This competition, which dates back to 1890, remains the one all counties want to win. Lancashire has taken it outright on eight occasions; five of those titles were between 1926 and 1934, with a hat-trick from 1926-1928. Since then, there has only been a shared title in 1950 and an outright triumph in 2011. This record does not sit well in comparison with their arch-rivals, Yorkshire, who have won the title outright on 32 occasions. The next most successful counties are Surrey and Middlesex, with 22 and 11 titles, respectively.

Lancashire can also lay claim to being one of the most successful counties in the short forms of the game, especially during the late 1960s, early 1970s and throughout the 1990s. Since then, however, success has been elusive, with only the T20 Blast title in 2015 to show for their endeavors.

Patience amongst members has run thin, not just with the lack of silverware, but