Ashley Giles had a Blast in his first season as Lancashire’s cricket director and head coach.

The Red Rose county’s maiden Twenty20 title, and their first piece of limited overs silverware since 1999, made it a trophy-winning debut campaign in charge at Emirates Old Trafford.

Lancashire recovered from being dealt a major early-season injury blow in the form of new captain Tom Smith ruled out for the summer with a back injury to also achieve the main goal of County Championship promotion.

That they led Division Two for the majority of the campaign only to relinquish control to Surrey during the final month was a minor irritation.

Ashwell Prince, Steven Croft, Kyle Jarvis, Alex Davies and Stephen Parry were all outstanding across the different competitions, as was overseas all-rounder James Faulkner.

Prince scored more than 2,000 runs during a sensational final season before retirement, while Croft stepped into the captaincy shoes impressively and was the standout player in T20.

Ex-Zimbabwe Test seamer Jarvis, the first man in the country to pass 50 Championship wickets, had reached 62 before breaking his hand in the build-up to Finals Day in late August.

Left-arm spinner Parry was the joint leading wicket-taker with 25 in the T20 Blast alongside Australian Faulkner, who also scored his maiden first-class hundred at Surrey and took a maiden hat-trick against Leicestershire.

As a result, Parry is back in England’s senior 20-over squad for this winter’s series against Pakistan.

Davies was one of only three wicketkeepers across the country to reach 50 Championship dismissals, and he scored 730 runs from 14 matches.

The 21-year-old, nominated for the Professional Cricketers Association Young Player of the Year award, also played an important role in the T20 success.

Going forward, there is reason for optimism in terms of the development of Bolton opening batsmen Haseeb Hameed and Karl Brown.

Eighteen-year-old Hameed encouraged in his first four Championship matches at the end of the season, highlighted by a match-saving 91 during the final day of the Surrey match earlier this month and a more expansive 63 at Essex last week.

Brown also progressed from a consistent performer in limited overs cricket to enjoy his most rewarding run in four-day cricket, scoring 766 runs from 12 matches.

Off-spinner Arron Lilley became the preferred spinner in Championship cricket at stages during an encouraging campaign in all formats.

But there will no doubt be many Lancashire fans heading into the winter months with worries for 2016.

The club’s best batsman in Prince has retired, while the other experienced former Test batsman Alviro Petersen was inconsistent during his first season with the county.

Without Jarvis and Faulkner, the latter who will not be with the club next year, their bowling attack lacked penetration during the season’s final furlong.

And there is no guarantee that captain Smith will be fit for the start of next season.

Giles faces a busy winter of recruitment. He certainly needs another batsman and a seam bowler at least before the return to Division One.

All in all, however, it has been a memorable season for Giles and the Red Rose.