Fifteen Lancashire players rewarded with renewed contracts.

Following their return to the top-flight of first-class cricket, Lancashire have strengthened their immediate future by rewarding fifteen players with contract renewals ahead of the 2014 campaign.

With such a sizable proportion of the team extending their stay, I will take a look at all of these players and how their past performances will bear on future challenges facing the Red Rose outfit…

Andrea Agathangelou: One of the few players not to have come directly from the youth system at the club, the Cypriot born all-rounder has seized his chances in the first team with a century against Hampshire and a healthy average of 35.50.

“It’s really been an honour to represent the county and it’s been a really amazing time in my career.” – Agathangelou speaking after Lancashire won promotion to division one.

Karl Brown: The top-order batsmen had a fairly average season by his own standards, scoring a mere 428 runs at 26.75 in the longest form of the game, but his capacity to adapt to one-day cricket and bat pretty much anywhere from opener to the middle-order gives him a versatility, which perhaps, others don’t possess.

Glen Chapple: If ever the term ‘veteran’ was to be used to describe any player on the county circuit, then the Lancashire skipper comes as close as is humanly possible. The fast bowler will be forty years of age when the 2014 campaign starts, but Chapple continues to fight on despite a number of injuries and he is more than earned the right to add to a career spanning back to 1992. With 53 wickets to his name last season he is certain to test batsmen for yet another summer.

Jordan Clark: Perhaps best known for being one of only five people to ever achieve six consecutive maximums in an over. But his talents stem far further than this and, perhaps, the 2014 one-day scene will shine a light on a severely underplayed yet gifted all-rounder.

Alex Davies: The wicket-keeper batsman is certainly expected to play second-banana to Jos Buttler, and understandably so, but make no mistake that the 19-year-old has a promising career ahead of him particularly with England internationals on the scene and coach Peter Moores knowing a thing or two about the art of keeping!

Kyle Hogg: Lancashire’s player of the season for 2013, Hogg has been a revelation for the 2011 county champions, taking 60 wickets at an average of just 18.42. Putting pen to paper for someone like Hogg will be key to Lancashire’s plans this winter as they prepare for the challenge of the first division.

Paul Horton: Injury to his hand prevented the opening batsman from playing the entire 2013 season, but when he did feature for Lancashire he proved to be a key player. In ten matches the Australian-born batsman made 645 runs and with three centuries to his name he proved why he will be an essential part of Lancashire’s plans next year.

Simon Kerrigan: One of three Lancashire bowlers to claim fifty wickets in 2013, Kerrigan’s talents were finally recognised by the international set-up, leading to a disastrous debut against a merciless Shane Watson. Nevertheless, he continues to impress at county level and remains Lancashire’s leading spin option, which will be invaluable in division one.

Arron Lilley: The success of Kerrigan and indeed injury to Stephen Parry meant that the young off-spinner was fast-tracked into the first team set-up. However, the 22-year-old grabbed his chance with both hands and proved his worth, particularly on the one-day scene, where he claimed 12 victims and bowled with an economical edge, which provides depth to Lancashire’s spinning options.

Liam Livingstone: Whenever fans have talked about second xi cricket this season at Lancashire, one name has continued to pop-up as ‘the-one-to-watch’ and Livingstone is that man. Having scored two championship centuries and a 47-ball hundred in the shortest form of the game, he is certainly worth keeping an eye on.

“Livingstone has played some exceptional cricket this season. He is a powerful player who has developed his game significantly” - Second XI coach Gary Yates gives his opinion on the future star.

Oliver Newby: The 6ft 5inches tall fast bowler has been at Lancashire for some time now, but has failed to establish himself in the first team on a regular basis. He proved what he is capable of in the latter stages of the season, claiming twelve wickets in three matches and, with Chapple’s injuries creating uncertainties, he is a useful player to hold on to.

Stephen Parry: An untimely accident in training saw the left-arm spinner’s season cut short, but with his arm now fully healed, Parry will be aiming to pick-up where he left off as Lancashire’s senior one-day spinner and, should Kerrigan play a greater role in the international set-up, Parry has to seize the wider responsibility of becoming the club’s regular spinner.

Luke Procter: Making seven half-centuries in the Championship campaign, the Oldham-born all-rounder has certainly proved his worth as a middle-order batsman. There is room to improve as far as his bowling is concerned, as the 25-year-old averaged just one wicket for every championship match he played in, but Procter proved to be one of the unsung hero’s of the team’s success’ last year.

Luis Reece: Lancashire’s young player of the season broke into the first team and never looked back with a staggering record of seven consecutive half-centuries, a club record. With the departure of Stephen Moore, Reece has nailed-down the difficult role of opening batsman alongside the experienced Horton and the pair have already shared five hundred-run stands after six different opening combinations were trialed by the Division Two winners. He hasn’t managed to secure a maiden hundred for Lancashire, but there is no reason why he will not do so next year with the talent he has already displayed.

"Personal performance aside it's good to get back in to the first division. It's been a pretty good season all-round to be fair, I’ve been lucky to carry good form all the way through the year, I’ve worked really hard and its been good to contribute in a winning side." – Reece discusses the side’s successful season just after he was bowled for 97 in the penultimate match of the season.

Tom Smith- Last, but by no means least, Smith has grown in to a dependable figure in the Lancashire set-up on all accounts and has developed his game further to accommodate Championship cricket. He scored at an average of 48.17 and claimed 22 wickets in just seven first-class matches. As a first change bowler, Smith is more than just an all-rounder who can help ‘on his day’. Instead he is a constant performer and can be utilised in all three forms of the game.