Old Trafford, one of England’s most historic cricket grounds, is to be known formally as Emirates Old Trafford for the next 10 years after Lancashire announced a sponsorship agreement with the airline.

The lucrative deal, reportedly worth up to STG10 million ($A14.92 million) and the largest in English county cricket, will help Lancashire fund the redevelopment of the Manchester ground that has been the north-west county’s home since its foundation in 1864.

Emirates’ name will also appear on the front of Lancashire’s Twenty20 shirts and the agreement with the Dubai-based carrier includes a number of other marketing rights.

Legal problems with a rival developer caused delays and even, at one point, threatened the club’s future but this deal should see the end of a fraught battle to redevelop Old Trafford.

Lancashire have played the majority of their home County Championship matches at outgrounds during the past two seasons.

But now work at their headquarters is set to be completed by May, well ahead of the third Ashes Test against Australia at Old Trafford — which shares its name with the nearby home of football giants Manchester United — in August.

It remains to be seen how the renaming of Old Trafford is received by Lancashire members, who boast some of the most traditionalist cricket followers in England among their ranks.