One of England’s Euro 2024 Midfielders Once Played Academy County Cricket
Lancashire’s youth system has been a prolific breeding ground for England internationals in recent years, with four of the country’s dozen most recent Test debutants – Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, Liam Livingstone, and Tom Hartley – emerging from the age group sides at Emirates Old Trafford.
However, the latest England cap to graduate from the county’s Under-10 team in 2014 may come as a surprise. Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, now 20 years old, left his hometown club of Blackburn in a £22.5 million deal on February 1 and is currently in Germany as part of England’s 26-man squad for Euro 2024.
“A decade ago, the prodigiously talented Wharton, who signed for Blackburn’s academy at the age of six, combined football with cricket, representing Lancashire Cricket’s Under-10 team under the captaincy of Matthew Hurst, who has since gone on to play for the Lancashire first team.”
Wharton’s journey follows in the footsteps of the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, who both represented Lancashire Schools before featuring for England in major football championships.
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