Lancashire to revamp Old Trafford

Lancashire have set in motion a radical redevelopment of Old Trafford that they hope will ensure their future as an international venue and place them back on the highly-valued Ashes circuit in 2013.

With newer grounds like the Riverside, the Rose Bowl and Cardiff’s SWALEC Stadium competing with the traditional Test venues for top international matches, the Red Rose county have unveiled plans for an elaborate revamp of their 151-year-old headquarters.

Most radically, the club are planning to introduce a new, larger square with wickets running north to south instead of their current east-to-west orientation.

That change alone is likely to mean no first-class cricket at Old Trafford in the 2010 season as work continues and the lengthy bedding-in process begins.

A new drainage system, styled on the Lord’s outfield, is currently being installed in a further move aimed at elevating the Manchester ground from its current pariah status among the country’s Test grounds.

Lancashire were denied an npower Ashes match in next year’s hotly-anticipated series despite famously locking 10,000 fans out for the final day of the sold-out third Test in 2005 and they have no further Test matches on the England and Wales Cricket Board’s slate, which runs until the summer of 2011.

Old Trafford is set to undergo a big redevelopment including permanent floodlights and 15,000 capacity

The executive of Trafford council voted unanimously to approve proposals for the stadium development, which also include plans for a new scoreboard and replay screen, permanent floodlights and permanent capacity of 15,000, rising to 25,000 with temporary seating.

A planning application will be lodged imminently with a view to starting work in early 2009.

A club statement announcing the details of the venture read: “The proposals come at a time of fierce competition for the rights to stage international Test matches which has recently seen the ground, and the region, fail to secure any for the foreseeable future.

“The significant investment being made in the new facilities will ensure that Old Trafford regains its rightful place on the international Test match circuit in time for the 2013 Ashes Test.”

Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes said: "The Old Trafford brand has a massive standing in world cricket. The club has been on the same site since 1857.

“We will work towards delivering a scheme which will have at its heart a new stadium fit for the next 150 years, and which will be recognised as world-class standard, fit for the UK’s greatest sporting city region and serving the huge cricketing fanbase in the north west.”

Leader of Trafford council Susan Williams said: “We warmly welcome the proposals as a basis for wider consultation.

“We fully support the club’s ambitions to secure the future of international cricket in the north-west and we look forward to it gaining a richly-deserved international profile.”