Cricket: Lancashire seek new skipper as Chilton resigns

Oct 19 2007 by Paul Edwards, Liverpool Daily Post

MARK CHILTON has decided to step down as Lancashire captain after three seasons in charge of the side.

Yesterday’s announcement from Old Trafford came barely 24 hours after it became known that the 31-year-old opener had signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until the end of 2009.

Chilton has opted to concentrate on his batting after a 2007 season in which he scored just 616 championship runs at an average of 28 and made little impression with the bat in Lancashire’s limited-overs matches. The captain decided to leave himself out of the side for Twenty20 finals day in August and only played because Mal Loye suffered an injury in the warm-up.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed the past three seasons and it has been an honour to captain my home county," said Chilton, "This has been a very difficult decision for me but I realise my form hasn’t been what it should – and feel that in the best interests of the club and myself, I should step down."

The dignity of Chilton’s statement is entirely in character for a man who never needed to advertise his commitment to Lancashire and whose work was praised by county officials yesterday.

"I’ve enjoyed working with closely with Chilly over the past three years," said cricket manager Mike Watkinson, "He has been a dedicated and passionate captain and I fully respect his decision to stand down to devote more time to his own cricket."

"I don’t think many people realise just how much work is involved in being a club captain," added Lancashire chairman Jack Simmons, "Mark Chilton has done a fantastic job for Lancashire. On behalf of the club I would like to thank Mark for everything he has done as captain and we look forward to seeing him back to his best on the field for many years to come."

Chilton succeeded Warren Hegg as Lancashire skipper in 2005 and immediately guided his side to the Division Two title. Since that success he has seen his side just fail to win the County Championship on a couple of occasions and has also led them to two Twenty20 Finals and a C&G Trophy Final.

But if the captain’s decision to step down comes as no great surprise, it is far from clear who will take over from him.

The field appears to contain a number of possible candidates but no clear favourite. Stuart Law led Queensland to Sheffield Shield triumph but has yet to sign a new deal at Lancashire and at the age of 39, is finding it increasingly tough to survive the rigours of an English county season.

, Luke Sutton, captained Derbyshire for two seasons but was omitted in favour of Gareth Cross for the Twenty20 Cup games last summer. Dominic Cork and Glen Chapple have also been mentioned as possible successors.

The vacancy has probably arrived too soon for Paul Horton whose captaincy of Lancashire’s Federation side was widely praised and who has never concealed leadership ambitions but who only established himself as a regular in the team this summer.

There remains the possibility that the Lancashire job might attract a player from another county or that different skippers will be appointed for the four- and one-day forms of the game. The cricket committee meets to discuss the matter a week on Tuesday.

Gary Keedy, Luke Sutton, Steven Croft, Tom Smith, Karl Brown, Glen Chapple and Gareth Cross have also signed contracts keeping them at the club until the end of the 2009 season while Northern’s Steven Mullaney and Firwood Bootle’s Stephen Parry have signed one-year deals. It is Parry’s first professional contract.