Stand-in captain Harris signs contract extension at crisis club Lancashire

Lancashire, county cricket's crisis club, have tied their interim captain Marcus Harris to a two-year contract extension after his fine start to the Championship season. Harris has scored 825 runs in seven matches this season, including three centuries, and has agreed a deal which will see him play for Lancashire for the next two summers.

Harris recently took over from Keaton Jennings as stand-in captain, but was unable to prevent an innings defeat to Leicestershire last week which left Lancashire winless after seven games, and one point off the foot of the Division Two table. Their disastrous run of form has cost Dale Benkenstein his job as head coach, with Steven Croft taking caretaker charge.

Harris, who turns 33 in July, has played 14 Tests for Australia but has not featured since the 2021-22 Ashes and appears to be out of favour with the national selectors. He should therefore be fully available for Lancashire across the next two summers. He is not part of their plans in the T20 Blast but should be available in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.

"I have loved the start of my time with Lancashire, and I am really pleased to extend my contract at Emirates Old Trafford by a further two years," Harris said. "It was a great honour to be asked to lead the Red Rose in four-day cricket and I hope that I can continue to make positive contributions, both with the bat and as a leader on the field.

"The start to this season hasn't been what we all would have wanted, but we are determined to put things right in the County Championship when we next take to the field at the end of June."

Mark Chilton, Lancashire's director of cricket, may also find his role under pressure if results do not improve, but said he was pleased to have secured Harris' signature. "Marcus has made a tremendous impact with the sheer volume of runs that he has scored during the first two months of the season," he said.

"He is also a great character and leader which is why we made the decision for him to take over the captaincy in four-day cricket and we are really pleased that he will be here longer-term. Having Marcus signed up for the next two seasons after this one allows us to have continuity and consistency and means we are able to plan further ahead knowing he will be here with us."

Lancashire also announced a £4.7 million operating profit on Wednesday ahead of the club's annual general meeting, though debt levels remain high ahead of their pending windfall from the sale of the eight Hundred franchises to private investors.