Steven Croft

Born: October 11, 1984, Blackpool 

Role: All-rounder (Captain)

Debut: 2005

Steven Croft has done almost everything there is to do for the Red Rose county. In 2011, he hit the winning runs at Taunton to secure the club’s first Championship title in 77 years. After a premature retirement from Tom Smith, he stepped in to take up the role of club captain and in the summer of 2015, he guided the Lightning to a maiden Twenty20 title.

He is one of the more dependable fielders on the county circuit and is a particular all-round asset in one-day cricket. His agility at backward point has caught many a batsman by surprise and he will always be remembered for a special catch on the boundary against Yorkshire to remove Michael Vaughan during a sellout T20 match.

With Alex Davies out through injury and Jos Buttler unavailable for large parts of last summer, Croft even took up keeping duties on top of captaincy. It was tough work, but Croft ensured Lancashire avoided relegation for the first time in three attempts despite a hugely successful start to the campaign.

True to his current form, Croft emerged on the county scene as deadly T20 performer, although he made his debut for the county in a pre-season match against Oxford MCCU in 2005 after being given a scholarship the previous year.

As one of the first cricketers to be a part of the shortest format, Croft holds the English record for the most consecutive appearances in T20 cricket (131) with only India’s Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli above his achievement.

His exploits in white-ball cricket secured him the club’s One-Day Player of the Year award in 2015, after he notched up 478 runs, including a career-best score of 94 not out against Derbyshire at Old Trafford.

Croft had to wait until 2008 for his first hundred for the county, scoring 122 against Nottinghamshire and in 2014 he registered a career-best score of 156 in a fourth-wicket partnership with Ashwell Prince worth 332 runs against Northamptonshire.