Farington Project: July 2024 Update
Latest update, including video and images from Farington
Work continues to progress to create Lancashire Cricket’s second home in the heart of the county in Farington. The Club, in collaboration with Lancashire County Council, commenced work at the site in November to create a professional cricket oval and a community cricket oval alongside a net facility and an indoor pavilion, with viewing facilities which will all serve both professional and community cricket.
With the project now past the six-month stage of the build, Lancashire Cricket wanted to provide a progress update following a recent visit to the site by Paul Allott, Director of Cricket Performance Mark Chilton and Head Groundsman Matt Merchant, alongside officials from Lancashire County Council and Eric Wright Group – who are leading the construction process.
The ground has now been sculpted and levelled for the two cricket ovals. Both ovals have been surrounded by grass banking’s which will provide elevated viewing positions for supporters with the net facility also beginning to take shape.
Speaking to LancsTV during the recent visit to Farington, Mark Chilton said: “It is fantastic to see the progress which has been made on-site, even since my last visit just six weeks ago. The venue is really starting to take shape now and you can visualise what it is going to look like further down the line.
“To have an additional site to Emirates Old Trafford, which has been under huge pressure in recent years, which we will have total control over its elite facilities is going to be game-changing for us. To have a venue of this size and scope, with the quality of the drainage this will allow us to deal with adverse weather conditions and get more games on away from Emirates Old Trafford.
“With the progress being made on-site, we are all growing in confidence that the venue will host some cricket during the second half of 2025 with the possibility of both our men’s and women’s squads playing some first team cricket here during the 2026 season.”
Head Groundsman Matt Merchant spoke about the process preparing the new wicket: “It is going to be a huge challenge but one we are hugely looking forward to overseeing.
“From this moment on, we will put a gravel carpet in, which is a 100ml stone layer across the whole area. Following that, we will add 300ml of rootzone which will provide drainage and then it will be seeded.
The square, which will be 18 pitches on both ovals, will then be constructed in between. An 18-pitch square is larger than the current square at Emirates Old Trafford and we’re all incredibly excited to get to work on creating and bedding it in.”
