Jayawardene to make county bow
Kent v Sussex
Luke Wright will be captaining Sussex for the first time, with Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene one of those under his charge. He is likely to be without four seamers, including Tymal Mills and Ajmal Shahzad, for their opener against Kent, as well as Sunday's home game against Gloucestershire. But he will be able to tap into the considerable expertise of Jayawardene, who will be making his county debut with Sussex for the first half of the campaign before being replaced by George Bailey. Sam Northeast will lead Kent for the first time in the Blast after Rob Key's decision to drop down to the 2nd XI in order to find some form and confidence. The hosts will also hope to include former Hampshire firebrand David Griffiths for the first time this season after a triceps injury.
Gloucestershire v Middlesex
Captain James Franklin believes Middlesex can replicate their four-day form in Twenty20 and improve on a dismal recent record in the format. In the six tournaments since they won the competition in 2008, Middlesex are the only county not to reach the knockout stage at least once. Gloucestershire include Australian Big Bash centurion Peter Handscomb and powerful New Zealand allrounder Kieran Noema-Barnett and, after a couple of group games, will also be boosted by the return of Michael Klinger, the only other batsman apart from Handscomb to make a hundred in the 2014-15 BBL. Spinners Jack Taylor and Tom Smith could both play a part against Middlesex. Ian Cockbain will be captain in the absence of Klinger.
Surrey v Glamorgan
Surrey have signed Wahab Riaz, who made such an impression for Pakistan in the World Cup, for a whirlwind 36-hour stint in which he will play in their first two group matches. Riaz will play in the opener at the Kia Oval followed by Saturday's short trip to Essex, with Moises Henriques, the Australian allrounder, still on IPL duty with Sunrisers Hyderabad. "Wahab's a quality bowler and we all saw how well he bowled for Pakistan at the World Cup, especially in that spell against Australia," says their captain Gareth Batty. "It's great to have him on board as our second overseas player alongside Kumar Sangakkara for these two opening games." Glamorgan's new overseas signing Wayne Parnell may not be fit to make his debut.
Hampshire v Essex
Owais Shah will make his first appearance of the season for Hampshire against one of his former counties. Shah and Pakistan veteran Yasir Arafat provide a double boost after the Championship defeat by Yorkshire, where Fidel Edwards made his debut. Championship captain Jimmy Adams should be available after he missed the defeat by Yorkshire to attend the birth of his second child while former Essex wicketkeeper Adam Wheater, who was denied by injury from playing in the same match, is a doubt. Essex's captain Ryan ten Doeschate is flying back from India to play in two games at the weekend, before returning to Kolkata, but they are missing Ravi Bopara, also at the IPL, as well as the injured Tom Westley. They have signed Shaun Tait as a second explosive overseas player alongside Jesse Ryder, and also have Reece Topley returning from injury.