Steven Croft, who used to be the captain of Lancashire, has signed a T20-only deal for 2024 and will transition to a full-time coaching role within the club. At 39 years old, he will be starting his 21st season as a player while also beginning to advance his coaching career. He has retired from first-class and List A cricket, concluding a red-ball career that saw him scoring almost 10,000 runs in 212 first-class matches and 4800 in one-day cricket. Croft expressed his excitement about starting his coaching career with Lancashire, a club that has been a significant part of his life for the last 20 years. He also mentioned that the timing feels right to end his playing in first-class and List A cricket, and looks forward to helping the team in T20 cricket next season. Croft, who was the club captain from 2016 to 2018, has been a T20 Blast winner with Lancashire in 2015 and has scored over 5000 runs in the format to go with 78 wickets. The director of cricket performance at Lancashire, Mark Chilton, commended Croft for his years of service and expressed delight in him continuing with the club in a coaching capacity. Chilton also mentioned that Croft has been working towards this transition for a while and has already been involved in coaching with the club’s Academy and age group players. Additionally, he will still be available to contribute in T20 cricket next season.
