WHEN you have some Scottish bloke on Sky Sports News shouting down your television because West Ham have signed Henri Lansbury on loan on transfer deadline day, it makes you thankful for the relative calm of the cricket season.

I have to admit to a few flutters when Lancashire slipped to 67-7 against Worcestershire, but their fightback, led by Kyle Hogg and Tom Smith, has restored my confidence that they will win the County Championship outright for the first time since 1934.

If the Red Rose were to lift the four-day crown, it would be a real triumph for a club that still remains loyal to its grassroots.

Down the road, their footballing cousins at Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium may be splashing obscene amounts of money on foreign imports in pursuit of glory, but Lancashire have built a squad of homegrown talent that might just go all the way.

Instead of going down the expensive route of packing the team with Kolpak players, like a number of their rivals, they have placed their faith in local lads and it seems to be well-placed.

Were you to ask the average man in the street to name three Lancashire players, they would struggle to get past James Anderson.

Yet that is the club’s strength. There are no big-name stars, just lots of very good cricketers.

If they did win the title, everyone in the squad would have played a part. They have not won the title because somebody has scored 1,500 runs in the season, or taken 70 wickets.

Instead, every victory is remembered for one or two different players putting their hands up to be counted.

They might not be worthy of a flashing yellow bar on Sky Sports News, but messers Brown, Cross, Mahmood et al get my vote as being the real headline-makers of the summer.