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.

Former under-19 Lancashire representative Matt White, who currently plays for Loughborough MCCU and toured Abu Dhabi recently as part of the combined MCC Universities side, hopes to copy former England captain Andrew Strauss’ successful balancing of playing and studying simultaneously.

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.

The Rugby World Cup Trophy is visiting Manchester for three days, July 25-27, before Albert Square hosts one of the Official Fanzones from October 9-11.

England duo Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have impressed in United’s last two Premier League fixtures – victories over Tottenham and Liverpool respectively – that have put Champions League qualification well within their grasp.

Juan Mata notched either side of half time to put the Manchester United into a commanding lead at Anfield, though ten-man Liverpool – who had substitute Steven Gerrard sent off in the first minute of the second half – did pull one back through Daniel Sturridge.

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.

Manchester United’s 3-0 battering of Tottenham has led coach Louis van Gaal to say he believes the Red Devils are capable of overtaking local rivals Manchester City.

Manchester City midfielder Frank Lampard singled out the threat of England hopeful Danny Ings ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Burnley.

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.