Red Rose set to play at Liverpool

LANCASHIRE director of cricket Paul Allott is ‘almost certain’ the county will play some games at Liverpool this summer.

Counties will this week vote on what formats to play once the domestic season finally starts on August 1.

With Emirates Old Trafford headquarters out of bounds for much of the summer thanks to its role hosting bio-secure Test matches, it seems inevitable Aigburth will play its part as Lancashire’s first-change venue.

Allott said: “Liverpool is our second ground. It’s almost certain that Liverpool will stage some Lancashire cricket.

“I can’t say definitively because there’s still some hoops to jump through, and they’re not necessarily of Liverpool’s or Lancashire’s making – there are rules and regulations we have to follow with trying to make grounds safe and secure.

“But it’s 95% certain that we’ll play at Liverpool at some point.”

Allott says some counties are not keen on having red-ball cricket as part of the mix – but Lancashire is not one of them.

He said: “We’re very keen to play all forms of the game. I’ll be deeply disappointed if we’re prevented from playing red-ball cricket. There’ll be a T20 competition, which I think will run through the end of August right through to the end of September. I think that will be positioned to perhaps allow a limited number of spectators into grounds and also for the latter part of the tournament to be covered on Sky.

“As far as I can see, the only points of contention are whether we should play four-day cricket from August 1 – four games in August, one in September and then a final in October – or if there will be a white-ball 50-over tournament, which runs in August, with a final sometime in September.”