JACK Simmons last night stood down as Lancashire's chairman after almost eleven years in the job, with Michael Cairns appointed in as his successor.
Simmons, the 67 year-old former Red Rose off-spinner, was replaced by the current chairman of the clubs business committee. Cairns was appointed unopposed by the clubs committee, while Keith Hayhurst stays on as the vice chairman.
An emotional Simmons, who is also the England and Wales Cricket Boards chairman of cricket, last night told a packed AGM that he was not going to stand for re-election.
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He said: "I have been thinking about this for maybe a couple of years. It has all been done with the best interests of Lancashire County Cricket Club in mind - without a doubt.
"I want to spend a little bit more time with my grand-daughter, because I didn't get too much time with my daughter. But what I don't want people to think is that I have finished here because of my position at the ECB. That had nothing to do with it."
Simmons was given a rapturous standing ovation by the club's members, but said the one major regret in his time as chairman was not seeing the Red Rose claim that elusive County Championship title.
"I will still get the same satisfaction if we do it this year even though I am not the chairman. That would be the icing on the cake if we did it," he said.
Lancashire are making progress with the plans to redevelop Old Trafford, and Simmons joked that it would all be a bit too much for him to handle.
"I didn't used to sleep when I was chairman, and we borrowed £2.2m for the Lodge. So you can understand that I wouldn't sleep at all with the possibility of borrowing £20m.
The man also known as Flat Jack revealed that Cairns got his vote ahead the other candidate was Geoffrey Shindler: "He has dealt with £100m projects, and has done for many, many years. I think it is better that someone like him can be seen to be doing this."
Lancashire have signed a new three-year agreement with the ECB, and find out today what internationals they will be allocated in the next three years.
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