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Counties - Media Guide to the Grounds

Lancashire (Old Trafford, Manchester, Blackpool, Liverpool) by Graham Hardcastle and Colin Evans

Email: hardcastleg@yahoo.co.uk,

Manchester (Old Trafford)

It would be wrong to go through a whole page talking about Manchester and Lancashire County Cricket Club without mentioning the rain wouldn’t it ?

So just before you set off from wherever you are coming from, don’t forget to pack that brolly!

I have to admit that I’m based nearer to Preston than Manchester, so I will try to update this page as best I can, leaving Colin’s advice where it is.

Directions

Access is pretty easy from all around Old Trafford, and as long as you are not coming on a Manchester United match day, you should have very few problems with traffic.

I am often wary of a build up of traffic on the M60 ring road in a morning, but it never seems to materialise. The only real problems seem to occur on the Mancunian Way back to the M6, M60, M61 etc at night. That can be a bit of a pain if you catch it around 7pm on a weekday. If it rains and you are even earlier than 7pm, then be prepared for a longer wait.

Accommodation wise, you can stay as far out as Altrincham, amble down after a leisurely breakfast to the Metro station and be at Old Trafford station, right outside the ground in 15 minutes. Or you can stay in the stadium in the Lancashire Lodge, close to it in the Salford Quays area, or in the thick of things in the city centre just a short tram ride away.

If you are visiting Old Trafford in the car, you should drive around to the main car park entrance next to the B and Q superstore (this is not the members' car park on Talbot Road. Go past the front of the ground and take the first left at the lights). You can leave the car in the main section of the car park, or drive past the Indoor Centre and get much closer to the Press Box.

It’s probably best to try and park on the main car park if you are here for a Twenty20 Cup game – it’s much safer!

In 2010 Lancashire opened a new structure sited "The Point" between the pavilion and the former Board of Control Stand. The bright red building on stilts which a full glazed frontage will be used for corporate hospitality during matches and conferences out of season. The bigger development plan for further construction at Old Trafford has been given necessary planning permission so the ground will continue to be a building site for a little longer but for the better one is sure.

Ground Facilities

Press Box (The Neville Cardus Suite) is on the upper floor of the Red Rose block, at the Brian Statham End. A steward is on duty on the first floor landing too, so please show her/him your pass.

The Old Trafford Press Box was extensively refurbished during the winter in readiness for the 2007 season.

New ceilings, lights, worktops and chairs have been installed, while the room has been fully carpeted. TV’s have been recessed into the area above the windows, and the height of the windows in effect has been lowered to provide more shade without compromising viewing.

The room has also been extended with additional places added to increase the capacity. At each end of the room, partitions have been added to provide separate roof access for TV crews. WiFi access is also available at all matches.

The scorers are situated in a small room at one end of the box, making info easily accessible. Alan West, the Lancashire scorer, has radio broadcasting experience and knows exactly what we all need in terms of scores and stats.

The Media Centre is for broadcasters, it also incorporates a photographers' room, and is at the Stretford Road End, in the block, which also includes the executive boxes.

Rows of modern broadcasting suites are available - again please show your pass to the steward at the bottom of the staircase, while there is also lift at the other side of the building. The doors leading to the broadcasting deck are coded, and you should be able to get the code from the communications department.

The Communications Dept

Rebecca Trbojevich is now Lancashire’s Communications Manager. Her office number is 0161 718 2325, mobile 07890 196 737. Fiona Ossoway is one of two Communications Executives. Her mobile is 07768 558 175, and her colleague, Katie Wood, can be contacted on 07917 137 125 (they both have other roles within the Marketing Dept).

One of the three is nominated as Media Liaison Officer for each day’s play. More often than not it is Rebecca.

At the start of each Liverpool Victoria County Championship game they provide Lancashire stats and relevant media releases. At the close of play they arrange a presser for nominated players, usually in the designated interview room on the first floor above the main reception. You can access this room from the entrance close to the umpire's dressing rooms next to the players' dressing rooms. Or go to main reception and you will be directed. Alternatively, ask Becs or anybody in the press box to direct you.

Although these arrangements are designed for interviewing Lancashire players or officials, the club will also do their best to assist with interviewing visiting players.

For Twenty20 and NatWest Pro-40 they provide match magazines. Ken Grime is the match event manager and editor of the Lancashire website, Friends Provident, Pro40 and Twenty20 programmes.

Finally the Reverend Malcolm Lorimer, who is often in the box, is the club's historian and editor of the Year Book.

It is also worth taking a look at the museum, which is usually open on match days, the refurbished library (ask Malcolm), the Long Room, and the space on top of the Jubilee Suite, which used to be filled by the former Press Box.

Refreshments

In the box there is a kitchenette with fridge, tea/coffee machine, cutlery etc and biscuits. Sandwiches, pork pies, and legendary Eccles cakes are all provided at lunch.

Accommodation

The Lancashire Lodge is worth considering. A room overlooking the square will set you back about £45 per night, and you can work from the balcony. The Copthorne Hotel is just around the corner from the other Old Trafford, and there is the Castlefield, with a great gym, near Deansgate station, two miles from the ground and on the same street as two good pubs, the Ox and the White Lion.

Leisure

Good places immediately around the ground are fairly sparse – there is a Weatherspoon’s Pub just next to the football ground with cheap food and the usual array of ales, but it is probably best to head into the city centre, or try Chorlton, the haunt of Ossoway and Tanya and Andy Wilson, just a short drive or long walk (20 minutes) away.

If you can't persuade the Wilsons to show you around, try these Chorlton drinking hot spots: The Marble House pub (run by a local organic brewery which has another place The Knott Fringe near Deansgate station), Battery Park, and The Bar. The Beech, a small, but proper pub, near the green. For grub try The Tonic, The Lead Station and The Bean Counter (veggie). For top-class sandwiches try Barbacan. Other Restaurants worth a try include: The Lowry (0161 876 2121), Rhodes & Co (0161 868 1900), Great Kathmandu (0161 434 6413) and Lead Station (0161 881 5559).

Outgrounds

Aigburth Cricket Club, at Liverpool, and Stanley Park, at Blackpool, are used by the club as their outgrounds, with both providing facilities for the media.

I personally enjoy both visits, with the press being housed in two garden sheds on the pavilion balcony at Liverpool and a marquee tent at Blackpool.

Both have more than enough power and WiFi availability last season.

I am not 100 percent sure where the best accommodation is around Liverpool – I suspect it may be nearer the city centre than the ground – but you can take your pick from hundreds of places on the seafront at Blackpool. You will probably need to reserve yourself a car park space at both grounds. Becs will usually send an email out a week or so before to detail media arrangements.

Alderley Edge has also been added to the outground list for the club's friendly fixture against Bangladesh A on Wednesday July 30th.

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