Cricket: Spotlight falls on old feud

IT SHOULD be a day for the underdogs but a feud that started during the Benson and Hedges Cup final five years ago could overshadow the first round of the NatWest Trophy today.

It could take an upset by one of the game's minnows to match Hertfordshire's victory over Derbyshire seven years ago to distract attention from the contest between Sussex and Lancashire that will bring Wasim Akram and Chris Adams face-to-face in one-day conflict again. To add spice to that occasion, Lancashire want revenge for a second-round defeat at Hove last season.

The Lancashire captain alleges in his recent autobiography Wasim that Adams threatened him with a knife during the lunch interval of that 1993 final after being hit by an attempted yorker which he ducked into after the ball had slipped out of the Pakistani's hand.

The holders, Essex, are likely to drop Darren Robinson to make way for the return from Test duty of Nasser Hussain against Cheshire at Chester.

Warwickshire, last year's beaten finalists, have a doubt over their fast bowler Ed Giddins, but are hopeful the all-rounder Dougie Brown will be fit to face Ireland at Edgbaston.