A SPECIAL cricket match will be played on the Town Hall lawn this summer to mark Warrington's crucial role in one of the sport's biggest names,

While they now play at the grand Old Trafford ground in Manchester, Lancashire Cricket Club played their first ever match in Warrington 160 years ago at Bank Park.

To mark the anniversary, the Town Hall will host a heritage event on Sunday, June 23.

There will be afternoon tea served in two sittings in the Town Hall from 12pm to 1pm and again from 3pm to 4pm.

Expect hand-made scones, finger sandwiches, cakes and dainties.

A guided tour of the Town Hall is included.

Then there will be the Lancashire Heritage Cricket team in action from 3pm.

Tickets are £15 from facebook.com/MayorofWarrington.

Warrington Cricket Club’s Bank Hall ground was chosen to host the inaugural game, due to the town’s central location.

The oldest cricket club in Cheshire, Birkenhead Park, who had previously played against the MCC at Lords and Surrey at the Oval, joined forces with the Gentlemen of Cheshire to oppose Lancashire in their first game.

The game ended in a draw with Lancashire scoring 169 and 78 in their two innings, while their opponents scored 143 in their first innings and were on the verge of victory being just 15 runs short of their target when play drew to a close.