Karl Brown gained a professional contract with Lancashire in 2006 after coming through the Academy system. He made his first century for the Second XI in 2005 and has also gained England Under-19 representative honours. In 2008 he broke into the first team towards the end of the season, but it wasn't until the 2011 summer - with Lancashire reduced to a small squad - that he make a real breakthrough.

Until then he had appeared in only six Championship matches in total, but after catching the eye in a friendly against Oxford University at The Parks he was rewarded with the No. 3 slot for the season-opener against Sussex, to which he responded with a maiden century as Lancashire began their title-winning season with a resounding win. He kept his place for all 16 Championship matches, finishing with 888 runs and was named the county's Young Player of the Year. He made good progress too in 20-over and 40-over cricket, scoring two 50s in 11 innings in T20 and a century against Essex in the CB40. His 2012 form was slightly disappointing by comparison but he still amassed more than 1,000 runs across the three competitions.
ESPNcricinfo staff