“It’s nice to finally get outside”: Lancaster's Tom Aspinwall has high hopes for the 2026 cricket season

The Lancaster-born all-rounder has progressed through the Red Rose’s ranks, with his senior breakthrough for the club coming in 2023.

Injury ruled Aspinwall out of Lancashire’s opening Rothesay County Championship Division Two match at Northamptonshire, but the 22-year-old says the Red Rose’s aims this season are clear.

He said: “It’s probably the most exciting time of the year, you spend a lot of months inside so it’s nice to finally get outside.

“The main thing for us is promotion, trying to get back up to Division One.

“It was a tough year last year but the way we played at the end was some of our best cricket, so hopefully we can bring that into this season – then, with the white ball, go a couple of games further in the Blast.

“Crofty (Croft) has been great. Having played with him for a few years, he’s sort of your friend and a really good coach.

“There’s that respect there. As a young lad coming in, you’ve watched him on TV for years.

“He’s got that aura about him, so things haven’t changed that much because you looked up to him anyway.

“It’s brilliant to have him and Jimmy, who you have watched for years and years.”

As a youngster, Aspinwall’s love for cricket developed organically as he realised there was a strong route into the game.

“Originally my family were into rugby in Cumbria but I used to play in the back garden with my grandad,” he explained.

“From there, I went down to Kendal Cricket Club and just played there every day. My next door neighbour was a coach there.

“I definitely got the bug and then, from a young age, all I wanted to do was be a cricketer.

“I had the belief that if you trained enough then you’d get there in the end. I went to Sedbergh and that kept on the belief.

“As soon as you get into the Lancashire academy, there’s so many opportunities.”