So the final of this year's LCB Lancashire Knockout will be played at Middleton.

This is the county's premier league cricket competition and as such it should be played at the county's premier ground.

The fact it is not makes me wonder how much the Lancashire Cricket Board really cares about league cricket.

I am sure Middleton is a very nice place to play and will do a great job in hosting the final, but it's not exactly Old Trafford is it?

I have been lucky enough to reach three Lancs KO finals with Greenmount, two of which were played at Old Trafford and one at Liverpool.

In many ways, getting the chance to play at Old Trafford was what was so special about playing in the competition. That was the carrot.

Sure, you wanted to win it for the club, no matter where the showpiece was played, but that was a big part of the attraction.

It was a fantastic day out and I feel sorry that the finalists – my old mates at Farnworth and new ones at Denton West – will not get the same chance I had to play at Old Trafford.

I am sure the organisers will say that it could not be avoided, but I don't buy that.

For many years, it was a given that the final would be played at Old Trafford, it has only recently been moved around.

Even moving it to one of the county grounds, like Liverpool, takes a bit of the gloss off, but to have the final at a normal league ground like Middleton is wrong.

It seems to be indicative of the way the LCB views league cricket these days.

So much has been happening behind the scenes, with the formation of new leagues, the growth of others and some disappearing all together.

The LCB should have been at the forefront of all that, driving the whole thing, rather than taking a back seat.

If you look at the Lancs KO final, you have a Bolton League team playing a GMCL team, while Lancashire League and the Pennine League had the other two semi-finalists.

All strong leagues, all strong teams who should be playing each other week in, week out in a single Lancashire Premier League, not just every so often in the cup.

We should have four or five well-run leagues across the county, all feeding into this premier competition, but that won't happen until the LCB grabs hold of it, and I just wonder if they care enough to get properly involved.