Lancashire part with Chilton and Thorley in performance reset
Lancashire will part with director of cricket performance Mark Chilton and director of women's cricket David Thorley.
The club confirmed both departures on 21 September as part of a restructuring of its performance set-up, according to the club Lancashire Cricket.
Chilton is a former Lancashire captain. He has been on the county's coaching staff since 2014 and took up the director of cricket performance role in 2021, overseeing the men's professional set-up BBC Sport.
Thorley has led the women's programme since 2020. Under him, Lancashire Women won both the One-Day Cup, the 50-over competition, and the T20 County Cup, the 20-over-a-side county competition, in 2025 BBC Sport.
The news follows a difficult 2026 season on both sides. With one match left in the County Championship, the four-day red-ball competition played in two divisions, Lancashire's men sit seventh in Division Two. The women finished bottom of the T20 Blast table, the regional short-format league, and missed the knockout stages of the One-Day Cup.
For supporters, this is a clear reset moment. Two long-serving figures leave at once, one tied to a recent high in the women's game and the other to more than a decade in the men's dressing room and offices. Lancashire have not yet named successors, with the original announcement carried on the club website Lancashire Cricket.
