A large group of Lancashire legends have launched a rebellion against the board, which they say has left the club in a “mess”.
David “Bumble” Lloyd and Paul Allott are at the heart of the group, which includes many of the club’s vice-presidents as well as a series of former chairmen.
It is understood that Michael Atherton, Neil Fairbrother and Mike Watkinson are also involved.
The group are concerned about the running of Lancashire under Daniel Gidney, the chief executive, and Dame Sarah Storey, the interim chair who they say have taken their eye off cricket.
On Monday, Storey wrote to members to inform them of a special general meeting next month. On Wednesday, another SGM, called by the rebels, will be confirmed.
The rebels fear for Lancashire’s future as a members club, and are asking for greater cricket knowledge on the board. They want four members of the board to have cricket knowledge; at present, they argue, only one board member (John Abrahams) has the necessary cricket experience, although president elect Sir Clive Lloyd will add to that when he is voted in at the annual general meeting.
Lancashire accept that three members with cricket experience would be acceptable, but believe four is too many. Their SGM proposes other changes, such as allowing board members to be re-elected unchallenged after three years, and also aims to raise the number of member signatures required to force an SGM from 100 to 250 (the club’s membership is about 6,000). This follows a wider trend in county cricket, led by the England and Wales Cricket Board, of raising the number of signatures required to force an SGM to five per cent of the membership.
‘No mention of cricket’
The details of exactly how many board members have cricket experience and how many signatures are required to hold a meeting, are part of a wider battle between Lancashire, its disaffected members and now many of its best-loved figures.
In a document seen by Telegraph Sport, the rebel group say the changes proposed by a board they describe as “largely anonymous” would be “undemocratic” and a “further attempt to dilute and quell membership challenge, stifle debate and the ability of the membership to hold the board to account”.
It says: “The impact [of the SGM] is to create unacceptable control of the club by the board. If these resolutions succeed, then it’s effectively the end of Lancashire CCC as a members club, since members would be giving up almost all their ability to influence.
“It should be remembered that the club is first and foremost a ‘cricket club’. It is and was constituted as a co-operative society run by the members for the benefit of the members. Its objects are entirely cricket related. Nowhere in the club’s proposed rule changes is there any mention of ‘cricket’.”
According to the rebels: a “disconnect is apparent within the club and morale is the worst in living memory.
“Put simply the club is in a mess and this board is not strong enough to get it out.
“The board is weak and does not understand the club or Lancashire cricket.”
Two hotels and a Hundred franchise
The involvement of Allott and Lloyd is significant. Allott was director of cricket at Lancashire until 2021, while Lloyd has worked with the club in recent years, too. This is not the first time he has voiced his disaffection. “There is a feeling, from both within and outside the club, that cricket isn’t the main priority,” he wrote in the Daily Mail last year. “Rather the balance sheet is. That is a real concern. We must get back to being a cricket club.”
On the field, it has been a difficult few years for Lancashire. After relegation in 2024, they remain in Division Two of the County Championship. When the new season starts next week they will be captained by Jimmy Anderson, with Steven Croft as head coach.
Off the field, Emirates Old Trafford is a busy hub for conferencing and events, and is home to two hotels. Lancashire have also built an impressive new venue at Farington, near Preston, and are the minority shareholders in the newly-named Hundred franchise Manchester Super Giants (MSG), having partnered with Sanjiv Goenka, the Indian billionaire.
While this deal has shored up the club’s financial position at the start of a year in which they do not host a money-spinning Test match, the launch of the new MSG – replacing Manchester Originals – led to some scepticism in the membership and beyond, given an elephant, seldom seen locally, is at the heart of the new brand. The rebel group argue that without money from the Hundred sale, the club’s financial position would be “perilous”.
Storey, a Paralympics legend, was the club’s President, but became interim chair last year when Andy Anson, the chief executive of the British Olympic Association, stepped down as chair. Gidney was appointed CEO in 2012, making him one of the longest-serving officials in county cricket.
Lancashire declined to comment.