Chilton has been compared in batting style to fellow Manchester Grammar School student and former Lancashire and England batsman John Crawley.
Chilton began the 2002 season as one half of Lancashire's first-choice opening partnership with Alec Swann who joined the club in the off-season.
For most of the season Chilton struggled for runs in the County Championship, although he was more successful in one-day cricket, scoring two hundreds in the Benson & Hedges Cup.
Chilton must consider the 2005 season, his first as Lancashire skipper, as a minor success after leading the county to promotion in the Championship and to the final of the Twenty20 Cup before losing out to Somerset Sabres at The Oval.
[8] Having relinquished the captaincy, Chilton spent most of the 2008 season in Lancashire's Second XI, struggling for form and trying to force his way back into the First team.