First division

Essex v Middlesex

Abdul Razzaq arrived in England two days ago and will line up alongside Joe Dawes, who is standing in as Middlesex’s second overseas player pending the arrival of Ashley Noffke. The retirement of Phil Tufnell leaves the spin onus on Paul Weekes. Essex hope that Scott Brant, a left-arm seam bowler from Australia, has recovered from an ankle problem. Graham Napier and John Stephenson contest a place with Andrew McGarry.

ESSEX (from): D D J Robinson, W I Jefferson, A P Grayson, A Flower, R C Irani (capt), Aftab Habib, J Dakin, J S Foster, J D Middlebrook, A C McGarry, S Brant, G R Napier, J P Stephenson.

MIDDLESEX: A J Strauss (capt), S Koenig, O A Shah, D C Nash, E C Joyce, P N Weekes, B L Hutton, Abdul Razzaq, C B Keegan, T F Bloomfield, J Dawes.

Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire

Russell Warren and Guy Welton are injured for Nottinghamshire and Charlie Shreck will deputise if Andrew Harris is passed unfit. Chris Cairns and Kevin Pietersen put on 162 in 94 balls in a warm-up match against Northamptonshire this week. Warwickshire, with Michael Clark standing in for Shane Bond as the fast bowler from overseas, prefer Tony Frost to Keith Piper as wicketkeeper.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE (probable): J E R Gallian (capt), D J Bicknell, Usman Afzaal, K P Pietersen, B M Shafayat, C L Cairns, C M W Read, P J Franks, S Elworthy,
G J Smith, A J Harris

WARWICKSHIRE (probable): N V Knight, M A Wagh, I R Bell, J O Troughton, D P Ostler, T Frost, D R Brown, A F Giles (capt), M W Clark, M M Betts,
A Richardson

Surrey v Lancashire

Surrey, without Mark Butcher and Alec Stewart at the behest of the England selectors, include a rejuvenated Graham Thorpe, keen to reclaim his Test place. A decision to name two spin bowlers has prompted Lancashire to call Gary Keedy in to their XII. Peter Martin is absent for the visiting team because of a family bereavement and the big, slim, blond chap in their team will be Andrew Flintoff, 8lb lighter after four days on a soup and cranberry juice diet.

SURREY: I J Ward, J N Batty, M R Ramprakash, G P Thorpe, A D Brown, A J Hollioake (capt), R Clarke, A J Tudor, I D K Salisbury, Saqlain Mushtaq, T J Murtagh.

LANCASHIRE (from): A J Swann, I J Sutcliffe, M B Loye, S G Law, M J Chilton, A Flintoff, W K Hegg (capt), C P Schofield, K W Hogg, G Chapple, J M Anderson, G Keedy.

Second division

Derbyshire v Glamorgan

With the exception of Jason Kerr, Derbyshire select from a full-strength squad. Dominic Cork resumes his prolific new-ball partnership with Kevin Dean. Mohammad Ali gives support but will want to improve on his career-best figures of three for 48. Shahid Afridi makes his first appearance for Derbyshire. Glamorgan have a familiar look as no one joined the staff in close season.

DERBYSHIRE (from): M J Di Venuto, S D Stubbings, A I Gait, D R Hewson, C W Bassano, S A Selwood, D G Cork (capt), Shahid Afridi, L D Sutton, K M Krikken, G Welch, K J Dean, S M B Ali, L J Wharton.

GLAMORGAN (from): S P James (capt), A Dale, D L Hemp, M J Powell, M P Maynard, M A Wallace, R D B Croft, S D Thomas, M S Kasprowicz, A G Wharf, A P Davies, D A Cosker.

Gloucestershire v Somerset

Gloucestershire include their two new signings. Phil Weston, the left-hander, opens the batting with Craig Spearman, while Jonty Rhodes takes his place at No 4. Roger Sillence fills in for Ian Harvey. Marcus Trescothick is allowed to play for Somerset by England, but Andy Caddick is not. Somerset give James Bryant, from South Africa, his championship debut after his century against Loughborough University.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE: W P C Weston, C M Spearman, T H C Hancock, J N Rhodes, M G N Windows, M W Alleyne (capt), R C Russell, I D Fisher, R J Sillence, J Lewis, A M Smith.

SOMERSET (from): M E Trescothick, P D Bowler, M Burns (capt), J Cox, J D C Bryant, I D Blackwell, R J Turner, R L Johnson, K P Dutch, N A M McLean, S R G Francis, M P Bulbeck, A W Laraman, P S Jones.

Worcestershire v Hampshire

Ben Smith begins his career as Worcestershire captain with a side that includes two new southern- hemisphere debutants. Nantie Hayward, the former South Africa fast bowler, will have Hampshire’s batsmen hopping around with support coming from Mark Harrity, the 29-year-old South Australian who has a British passport. Hampshire, led by John Crawley, also field two new useful swing bowlers — Wasim Akram and Ed Giddins.

WORCESTERSHIRE: S D Peters, A Singh, G A Hick, B F Smith (capt), V S Solanki, D A Leatherdale, G J Batty, S J Rhodes, Kabir Ali, M A Harrity, M Hayward.

HAMPSHIRE (from): J H K Adams, D A Kenway, J P Crawley (capt), R A Smith, W S Kendall, N Pothas, A D Mascarenhas, Wasim Akram, S D Udal, A D Mullally, E S H Giddins, A C Morris.

Yorkshire v Northamptonshire

Darren Gough plays only his second championship match since 2001, but Matthew Elliott was ruled out yesterday with knee problems. Matthew Hoggard is permitted to play by England but Michael Vaughan is unavailable. Craig White is injured. Tim Bresnan may make his first-class debut. Northamptonshire include Phil Jaques and Andre Nel, the new signings, Mike Hussey is on Australia A duty.

YORKSHIRE (from): M J Wood, C R Taylor, S A Richardson, A McGrath (capt), M J Lumb, R J Blakey, G M Fellows, R K J Dawson, D Gough, C E W Silverwood, R J Sidebottom, M J Hoggard, T T Bresnan.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE (from): R A White, M J Powell, P Jaques, J W Cook, D J G Sales (capt), G L Brophy, G P Swann, T M B Bailey, C G Greenidge, J A R Blain, A Nel, M S Panesar.