Surrey have chance to increase lead against recent victims

Leicestershire travel to Guildford with determination rather than trepidation in the wake of their recent heavy championship defeat to Surrey. That was when Ally Brown hit 295 n.o. in the innings and 178 runs victory at Oakham School.

Leicestershire's cricket manager Jackie Birkenshaw recognised the extent of the task: "In our last match against Surrey they were better than us in every aspect of the game, although we didn't help ourselves with some dropped catches. They're an international side with some outstanding cricketers."

The Midland county's batsmen have to face up to the penetrative spin of Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury as well as Brown's hitting. Admittedly the home county will be without Alec Stewart band Graham Thorpe on national duty, but for the visitors a hip injury prevents Chris Lewis from playing against his old county.

Injury, too, threatens Lancashire's chances of catching up on their southern rivals when they take bon Durham at Manchester. Peter Martin's hand injury has kept him out of the side for some time, Ian Austin has a calf problem and Mark Chilton has broken his finger - while Andrew Flintoff is with England.

That is countered to some extent by their visitors losing Melvyn Betts and Stephen Harmison with knee and shin trouble respectively. Coach Norman Gifford said: "We know it's going to be a tough match for us. We need the points and Lancashire needs the points so we're going to have to be ready for a hard game."

Darren Gough and Craig White will be away from Yorkshire and with England when Somerset visit Scarborough. Michael Vaughan's ankle injury makes it unlikely that he will play. Nevertheless there will be compensation with in-form Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Caddick being lost to England's service.

At the other end of the division Kent travel to Hampshire. Tim Tremlett, the Hampshire director of of cricket, acknowledges that it is a crucial and probably closely-fought match. The Kent attack is weakened by the absence of fast bowlers Martin McCague and Dean Headley which could be important as the pitch is expected to favour batting. Although Mark Ealham is away with the England team Rahul Dravid appears to have recovered from his dislocated finger.

In Division Two the leaders Worcestershire take on Essex at Chelmsford without Graeme Hick (another with the national team). Coach Bill Athey agrees that there is everything for which to play.

He believes Worcestershire will have to be at their best against an excellent Essex team from whom only Ricardo Anderson (foot) is missing. Nick Knight's return to the England squad will weaken Warwickshire against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, but the hosts will be without experienced Kim Barnett (knee).

Matthew Maynard is back with Glamorgan for a match against Northamptonshire at Cardiff which coach Jeff Hammond knows they must win to main their progress from the bottom of the championship. He contends that team spirit will bring them safely through, and confidence is high in the wake of victories in their last three matches.

Robin Martin-Jenkins, suffering from shin tendonitis, has only an even chance of playing for Sussex against Nottinghamshire at Hove. The visitors' cricket manager Clive Rice seems Michael Bevan and Chris Adams as being the key players in the opposition.