Holland and Littleborough Lakeside Cricket Club were awarded a grant of £2000 through the England & Wales Cricket Trust (EWCT) Small Grant Scheme, supported by Waitrose, something ex-England captain Mike Gatting says is vital for the game’s future in this country.

On the recent tour of the West Indies, Lancashire paceman James Anderson broke Ian Botham’s record to become England’s all-time highest Test match wicket-taker – he has now taken 397 scalps.

Former Aussie paceman Jason Gillespie has garnered many plaudits for his work at Yorkshire, leading Joe Root and his White Rose teammates to the County Championship crown last year.

Around 50 clubs are predicted to sign up to the Greater Manchester cricket league initially, which will replace established leagues across the county and operate with a multi-division structure.

The Lancashire Cricket Board women’s cricket team has changed its moniker to LCB Thunder, in an attempt to increase media interest in the side following last season’s promotion.

Bury-born Kate Cross is looking to continue her progress in another Ashes summer that looks set to be the biggest one in women’s cricket history after Sky Sports agreed to increase its coverage.

Kate Cross, Lancashire’s first female professional cricketer and Jennifer Laycock, Women’s Cricket Development Officer for the county both agree that the recent development of women’s cricket will help it share a similar status to their male counterparts.

With the 14th annual NatWest CricketForce promising to be another blockbuster event given more than 2,000 clubs are registered to take part this weekend, former England captain Mike Gatting sees a bright future for the game in this country.

Bobby Denning, who has held his position since October 2013 and has worked for the LCB in various roles for 14 years, accepts that cricket faces serious challenges to arrest decreasing levels of participation.

Back in 2013 former England captain Mike Gatting rolled his sleeves up and got stuck into voluntary work at Heywood Cricket Club, and the ECB Managing Director of Cricket Partnerships hopes they get stuck in again this time around too.

England’s embarrassing 15-run defeat to perennial whipping boys Bangladesh on Monday continued 23 years of misery on cricket’s biggest stage, since England reached the final in 1992.