I was born at Hope hospital and brought up in Worsley. The crowds at Old Trafford knew that and I've always had a great reception from them whether I was playing for Yorkshire or England. It stands alongside Lord's, the Oval, Edgbaston and Headingley as grounds where there is great support for England and a fantastic atmosphere.
Michael Vaughan has given his support to Old Trafford’s redevelopment plans as they attempt to re-establish themselves as one of English cricket’s major venues.
The Ashes-winning captain, who is now Business Development Manager at ISM, is backing Lancashire’s plans to redevelop the ground and bring international cricket back after missing out on a Test match for only the third time in 150 years last summer.
"I was disappointed when it lost out because I'm a great believer that Test cricket should be played at Old Trafford and Headingley, especially because I'm from up here," said Vaughan, who was born in nearby Eccles. "Having said that, perhaps Old Trafford needed a kick up the backside and this may have helped."
Lancashire have submitted a planning application for the redevelopment with partners Tesco and Ask Developments, which will include a new store with approximately 100,000 sq ft retail sales floor space providing over 500 jobs, half of which would be guaranteed for the local long-term unemployed.
"Some people wish they were living 50 or 60 years ago," said Vaughan. "More and more seem to be complaining these days and it winds me up. Redevelopments are not possible without a partner and for Old Trafford to get a brand such as Tesco can only be a good thing. I think you'll find people going to Tesco and to the game.
"I was born at Hope hospital and brought up in Worsley. The crowds at Old Trafford knew that and I've always had a great reception from them whether I was playing for Yorkshire or England. It stands alongside Lord's, the Oval, Edgbaston and Headingley as grounds where there is great support for England and a fantastic atmosphere."
Vaughan’s support for the scheme follows similar pledges of support from England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, who have joined around 1500 other pledges of support on the campaign web-site, www.traffordashes.co.uk.
The first phase of the development, a new conference and events suite, is already underway and the Phase 2 of the development plans to enhance the existing pavilion and add new player, media and conferencing facilities and an extension to the highly successful indoor Cricket School.
There will also be two new grandstands to ensure a capacity of 15,000 capable of rising to 25,000 with temporary seating alongside floodlights and a screen showing action replays.