Howzat! Lancashire awarded 2019 Test

ASHES cricket will return to the region in 2019 after Lancashire County Cricket Club was awarded one of the Test matches against Australia.

The club’s Emirates Old Trafford venue will also host five ICC World Cup matches including a semi-final in 2019, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced.

Micheal Cairns OBE, chairman of Lancashire County Cricket Club, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded this comprehensive package of international matches, which includes a prestigious Investec Ashes Test and five ICC World Cup matches during what promises to be an incredible summer of cricket in 2019.

“Following our £45m redevelopment, Emirates Old Trafford is now rightly recognised as one of the leading venues in world cricket and we are pleased that the communities of the North West will be able to watch international cricket on their doorsteps.

“The club has worked tirelessly in putting together a solid bid to ensure that international cricket continues to be a regular fixture in Manchester.”

More than 120,000 spectators attended the Emirates Old Trafford for the third Test in 2013 as England triumphed over the Aussies.