“Lancashire Cricket is playing its role in supporting bilateral trade talks between the UK and Indian governments.” What does this mean? Luke Wells flanking Keir Starmer during his handshake photo op with Narendra Modi?
The line appears on the club’s website, highlighting an event at Old Trafford in March to welcome a new Indian consulate in Manchester. It’s undoubtedly odd but also nothing new. The push to develop Indian ties has been part of Lancashire’s story for a while now, the journey beginning at India and Pakistan’s clash in the city at the 2019 World Cup.
The story goes that their chair at the time, the late David Hodgkiss, observed the passion in the ground and told the chief executive, Daniel Gidney, that Lancashire needed to look east. “My aim is that, one day, everyone in India will see Lancashire as their second favourite team,” Gidney told ESPNcricinfo in 2020.
If that sounds a bit big-hearted, then there is the practical element, too. “Rooms in our hotel were selling for £3,500,” said Gidney, referring to the Hilton that is part of the ground. So it leads to all of this: Lancashire having its own channel on JioTV, an Indian streaming service; pre-season tours of the country; hosting a networking event in Bengaluru to promote tourism in Manchester; expressing the desire to have an Indian Premier League partner for the Old Trafford-based Hundred team. RPSG, which owns Lucknow Super Giants, was the winning bidder, acquiring a 70% stake in Manchester Originals.
This feels like a big week for the county, who do not host a Test next summer and won’t receive the substantial injection of a men’s Ashes match in two years’ time. A contest involving India is the one to capitalise on and another substantial advertisement for those watching abroad. It comes two weeks on from the first women’s Twenty20 international held at Old Trafford in 13 years, India beating England by six wickets.
Lancashire admitted to disappointing ticket sales for the Test visit of Sri Lanka last year, and rain meant an abandonment of an England-Australia men’s T20 in September. Their opportunity to host India four years ago was ruined by a Covid outbreak and a controversial last-minute cancellation, though the England and Wales Cricket Board stepped in to cover ticket refunds. There might have been a brief moment of relief for the club’s hierarchy when Chris Woakes sent the ball down to Yashasvi Jaiswal on Wednesday morning.
Not that everyone got to see it, as queues outside the ground derailed the arrival of supporters. Lancashire released a statement that tried to shift some of the blame, before admitting the need to change arrangements for the remainder of the Test. “We are aware that some supporters experienced queues getting into Emirates Old Trafford this morning, which we apologise for,” the club said. “We saw nearly 9,000 supporters arrive at the ground very late despite encouraging early arrival, with all bags subject to searches on entry.
“The club will be looking at increasing the number of gates for the rest of the Test match. We strongly encourage ticket buyers to only bring bags if required, and if doing so to arrive as early as possible. Gates will be open at 9am for the rest of the game.” Build your brand overseas, but those at home deserve more love, too.
Lancashire supporters may well agree. They do have plenty of things to celebrate this season – an upcoming men’s Blast quarter-final, the women’s T20 Cup victory, and the enduring presence of Jimmy Anderson – but there has largely been misery in the County Championship. Relegation last season was followed by a dire start this year, with Dale Benkenstein departing as head coach after seven winless games and Keaton Jennings stepping down as red-ball captain.
Those who did beat the morning queues might have expected a bit of fire between the two teams: eyeballs, finger-wagging, stump-mic bleeps, the whole lot. After the tetchiness of the previous Test, Harry Brook had talked about England shedding their nice-guy image; Shubman Gill had continued to take umbrage with the hosts’ time-wasting. But the morning lacked caffeine and any sunshine to boil tempers. Jaiswal and KL Rahul were watchful, Woakes yearned for an outside edge to carry to the cordon, Jofra Archer stayed economical. Hostility was not the word to use. Maybe they were just playing their roles in supporting the imminent trade deal between the UK and Indian governments.
