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Essex have handed the captaincy to Ronnie Irani for the first time as last year's bottom team take on the champions, Leicestershire, in the opening round of the PPP healthcare Championship matches at Chelmsford today.

Irani, 27, will probably be leading Essex more often than not as understudy for Nasser Hussain, who has England duties during the World Cup and a four-Test series against New Zealand, and all the signs suggest Irani will do a very good job, passionate cricketer that he is. It also underlines Essex's puzzling decision to hand the captaincy in the first place to a player likely to be absent for long periods.

The weather outlook for today looks wintry and rainy everywhere, so Lancashire's idea of charging no entrance fee for their match against Sussex at Old Trafford is a very good idea. It brings to mind that 18th century entry in the Hambledon Club's minutes: ``Wet day, only three members present, nine bottles of wine.''

Free ground admission is a pointer to the future. Membership subscriptions should represent added value such as good catering facilities, the best viewing areas, convivial bars, discounts on merchandise and travel. There should be no need to include a season ticket element, and one cannot expect people to pay to watch cricket on exposed terracing in April in any case.

Allowing free public access for four-day cricket all through the summer should attract the curious and enthusiasts with little time on their hands. The players would welcome greater acclaim for their successful moments.

The April weather explains why the first class season cannot be opened with a fanfare as it can in football, as with the FA Charity Shield. Special curtain-raising games have been tried - such as champion county versus an England XI - and have usually proved to be miserably chilled anti-climactic affairs.

Lancashire are weakened for the Sussex match by the absence of their England contingent, though John Crawley, their leading batsman, starts his first season as captain. Sussex's new ball attack will be minus Jason Lewry for another month after an operation on the shoulder injury that ended his England A tour prematurely.

Essex , with or without spectators, expect a great improvement on last year under the Irani/Hussain ticket, though they might breathe a sigh of relief that Vince Wells, who scored 171 against them at Leicester last year, is away with England. That match marked Essex's nadir, the fifth of six consecutive championship defeats that brought a season of cursed memory to an end.

Bottom place used to be a preserve of Durham's. Not any more, and there is good news at Chester-le-Street, where Simon Brown returns to the bowling attack against Worcestershire after missing the whole of last year's championship with a chronic knee injury. Melvyn Betts has been passed fit from the leg injury that ruined his England A tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa during the winter.

There are a few burgeoning reputations at Durham - for example, Betts, Steve Harmison and Paul Collingwood - so David Boon, their Australian captain, will be disappointed if there is not a further substantial rise up the table this summer, and Worcestershire look vulnerable enough to present Durham with a good start.