Lancashire: Mark Chilton and Karl Krikken take new roles in Old Trafford reshuffle
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Mark Chilton (left) spent 14 years as a player with Lancashire, as did Karl Krikken with Derbyshire
Lancashire backroom duo Mark Chilton and Karl Krikken have been appointed to new roles targeting the pathway of more home-grown talent into the first team.
Chilton, 42, takes on the job of performance director, on top of his existing position as assistant to head coach Glen Chapple.
Former Derbyshire and Shropshire boss Krikken, 49, is performance manager.
"There is a vast array of talent throughout the age-group sides," said director of cricket Paul Allott.
"We want to ensure those players with the right attitude and ability fulfil their potential.
"Mark will provide Glen and rest of the coaching staff with the ultimate finishing school for prospective members of the professional playing squad.
"Throughout the season, he will maintain contact with the club's best young talent and influence the development of all pathway players into and within the first-team environment.
"He will do this whilst still having a very important role within the professional squad as the club looks to develop a more flexible coaching structure."
Chilton and Bolton-born Krikken, who spent his 14-year first-class playing career across the county border with Derbyshire, will work with two other former Lancashire players, academy director Gary Yates and under-14-19s performance manager Stephen Titchard.
Lancashire, relegated back to Division Two in September, made their announcement on the day that the ECB lowered the criteria for England selection from, in some cases, seven years' residence in either England or Wales to only three years.
Meanwhile, the county have awarded two-year first professional contracts to two of their most promising academy players, Ormskirk's England Under-19s wicketkeeper/batsman George Lavelle, 18, and Hyde all-rounder George Balderson, also 18.
"George Lavelle is out in Sydney at the moment playing grade cricket," said Chilton. "Whilst George Balderson has been named in the England Young Lions squad that tours India in December so we're looking forward to tracking their progress and seeing how they develop over the winter."