Red Rose £1 million in black for the year

That is an increase of 60 per cent on the previous year, the Old Trafford club announced as the annual balance-sheet was revealed.

Lancashire say that despite the adverse impact of the loss of the Old Trafford Lodge at the start of the year and subsequent ongoing disruption caused by construction work on the new Hilton Garden Inn, there was an encouraging improvement in overall trading performance as the club continued its major ground development work.

A club statement said: “The new hotel is scheduled for completion in June this year, and will see the culmination over the last nine years of £60 million of capital investment aimed at creating a world class venue for both cricket and other events.

“Construction work is continuing at a pace with invaluable funding and support from Trafford Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority being key to its success.

“While it was a disappointing season on the pitch in terms of results, first division safety was ultimately secured, and a new crop of young players were able to make a big impression with Haseeb Hameed, Liam Livingstone, Rob Jones and Matt Parkinson, in particular, making their mark with outstanding individual performances.

Off the pitch the club achieved record conference and events sales of £3.7 million as well as hosting successful concerts.

These activities helped to supplement income generated from the major international matches which saw 70,000 spectators visiting Old Trafford to watch England play Pakistan in both a Test match and the T20 format.

The T20 match generated a sell-out attendance, as did the Roses NatWest T20 Blast match against Yorkshire

Finance director, Lee Morgan, said: “The clubs continues to manoeuvre its way carefully through the myriad of challenges provided by the ground re-development programme and the competitive trading environment, and whilst being faced with many of the cash flow challenges encountered by all county cricket clubs, is now close to having all the building blocks in place to secure a positive future.

“With the new Hilton Garden Inn Hotel due to come on stream this summer, and in doing so completing the club’s full suite of facilities, and with three years of major matches in the diary, including visits from South Africa, West Indies, India and Australia before the Ashes Test Match and Cricket World Cup in 2019, a financially sustainable business model is close to being in place.”

Lancashire opened the County Championship campaign on Friday with a clash against Essex at Chelmsford.