Lancashire 2026 County Championship Full Season Preview
- Mar 30
- 4 min read
by Ronan Alexander & The Cricket Draft
With the cricket season fast approaching, now is the time to ensure you and your club are covered! Don’t risk the season with under insurance & outdated valuations; contact ASI, the specialist sports broker and PCA partner, to get your club or your own policy sorted before the first ball is bowled.
County Championship Values for 2026
Banker, Wildcard, Young Gun & England Watch
Banker: Keaton Jennings (BAT) £7.9m
After skippering the team through a difficult time, Jennings still managed to come away from last year with over 1,000 runs to his name. He made 1,054 at an average of 42.16 while scoring two centuries and five half-centuries. He is extremely consistent, and with the club in a better position heading into 2026, he’ll be expected to flourish and lead from the top of that batting lineup.
Wildcard: Luke Wells (BAT) £7.0m
Had a strong summer in 2025, scoring over 1,000 runs while opening the batting. He can also chip in with his spin; his 12 wickets were the joint-third most for a batter, which gives him a bit of extra match involvement and opportunity to score points. He played every match last year, so he will be hoping to repeat that this time around. He was in only 2.4% of teams, making him a solid wildcard choice.
Young Gun: Matty Hurst (WKT) £6.0m
The 22-year-old has made the keeping position his own and established himself as first-choice in red-ball cricket, having played all 14 games last summer. Valued at only £5.5m last year, he scored 748 runs at an average of 37.40 with five half-centuries and a ton to his name, while also taking 44 catches. With Phil Salt and Jos Buttler at the IPL, the gloves will be his again for the start of the summer as he looks to continue improving.
England Watch: Saqib Mahmood (BWL)
The 28-year-old right-arm quick has made 38 appearances in an England jersey, two of those being Test matches with his last appearance for his country being in September 2025. He has been extremely unlucky with injury issues but will be hoping for a fresh start in 2026 to get back to his best and fight for a place back within the England setup. He was restricted to only two appearances in the County Championship last year due to injury.
Potential Starting XI for GW 1
NOTE: This XI is based on Marcus Harris & Mitch Perry not making it back in time for GW 1.
2025 Review
A torrid start to the season made for a difficult campaign for Lancashire. They drew six and lost two of their first eight games, resulting in several major changes. Dale Benkenstein departed as Head Coach and was replaced by fan favourite Steven Croft, while Keaton Jennings handed over captaincy duties to Marcus Harris.
However, it will be James Anderson who leads the side this summer as they embark on a return to Division One. The second half of the season showed marked improvement; the team won three, drew two, and lost only one of their remaining six games to climb to fifth place by the end of the season.
Ultimately, Lancashire must find a way to win at home if they want to find success in 2026. Their failure to do so last year was a key factor in their final position, but with club legends now in coaching and captaincy positions, the fanbase has every reason to be optimistic ahead of the new season.
2025 Stat Attack
Luke Wells, Keaton Jennings, and Marcus Harris all surpassed 1,000 runs for Lancashire last season.
George Balderson claimed 40 wickets, ranking as the joint 12th highest wicket-taker overall and 5th among all-rounders.
Marcus Harris achieved the 9th highest points per game for batters with a score of 142.1
Matty Hurst scored the 5th most points for a wicketkeeper, proving to be an excellent value-for-money choice.
Matty Hurst also ranked 7th for runs by a wicketkeeper (748) and 4th for total catches (44).
Tom Hartley’s 396 runs were the 2nd highest for a bowler, and he ranked 10th in total points for bowlers.
Mitchell Stanley made a significant impact with 12 wickets in just two appearances.
Player Ins & Outs
Lancashire have strengthened their seam department with the additions of Ajeet Singh Dale from Gloucestershire and Paul Coughlin who arrives from Durham. Also, James Anderson has been made captain, so having him available for selection more often will bolster their seam attack rather substantially you’d think. The one departure from that unit is Will Williams who moves in the opposite direction of Ajeet Singh Dale. Marcus Harris rejoins for another year with the Red Rose and will be joined by fellow Aussie Mitch Perry. Chris Green who featured in the County Championship last summer is back for the Blast alongside Ben McDermott who has previously spent time at Hampshire.
2026 Fixtures
Lancashire kick off the summer with a trip to Northamptonshire before hosting Derbyshire. Next up are two away matches against Gloucestershire and Durham. May is headlined by two important home games, as Middlesex and Worcestershire visit Old Trafford.
The following month features three consecutive home games, this time with Kent as the visitors. Lancashire will hope they have made some serious headway towards promotion by this point and great form at home will be key to this. Three of the subsequent four matches are on the road, with the lone home fixture being against Northants. The final day of the season could be a crunch game as they welcome Durham to Old Trafford. Improving their home form will be vital as last year playing at Old Trafford saw them record five draws and a defeat, while they also drew against Kent at Stanley Park in Blackpool.
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