Lancashire will play their final three home games of the 2008 season away from Old Trafford to allow work to be done to improve the drainage system.

The club lost 906.3 overs at Old Trafford to the rain in 2006 and 708 overs last season.

So Lancashire have decided to install a state-of-the-art drainage system and improve the outfield.

Home matches after August 17 will instead be played at Liverpool and Blackpool.

Head groundsman Peter Marron said: "Towards the end of next season, we are planning to rebuild the entire outfield and replace the existing drainage with a system similar to that of Lord's.

"Everyone witnessed during the Test against India just how effective the Lord's drainage system is - and although our new outfield will work on the same principles, we are making sure that we have a system tailored towards the specific needs of Old Trafford.

"The system we will be adopting is what many Premiership football clubs have and although cricket will never be played during wet weather, this new drainage system guarantees play will get underway much more quickly following rain, hopefully within an hour, allowing more cricket to be played at Old Trafford.

"We are currently in talks with three contractors and a final decision will be made in the next few months.

"This work needs to be carried out during August and September to give the new grass time to grow while the weather is relatively warm."

Lancashire's Chief Executive Jim Cumbes added: "As people will be aware, we have been in discussions for the last three (3) years regarding the re-development of Old Trafford as a World Class International Cricket Ground and this can be regarded as part of the first phase of moving towards that target.

"This is a huge investment for the club, but it sends out the message that we are deadly serious about our vision for cricket at Old Trafford."