LONDON (AFP)
John Crawley could still be a Lancashire player next season despite a bitter dispute, the English county's chairman Jack Simmons said on Saturday.

Former England batsman Crawley, 30, has reportedly resigned and insisted he will never play for Lancashire again after being stripped of the captaincy at the end of last season. It was a disappointing campaign for the team, who only narrowly avoided relegation to the second division of the County Championship.

Since then Crawley has repeatedly been linked in the British press with a move to Lancashire's newly-promoted rivals Hampshire.

But Simmons, speaking at Lancashire's annual general meeting at Old Trafford, said: "We still regarded John as a contracted player of this club, he still has three years of his contract to run. We want him as a player and were hoping for a solution," Simmons added.

He refused to discuss the Crawley situation any further on the advice of Lancashire's solicitors.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have convened a contracts appeal panel on Friday to resolve the long-running dispute.

Crawley made his Test debut in 1994 and has played 29 Tests having scored 1,329 runs at a modest 31.64. However, he has been a consistent performer at county level, although 898 first-class runs at 40.81 last season was not up to his usual standard.

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