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Lancashire could be boosted by the return of their three England World Cup stars for the launch of the new CGU National League Division One campaign at Kent on Sunday. Ian Austin, Andy Flintoff and Neil Fairbrother were not expected to be available for county duty until after the World Cup, which starts on May 13.

But they have returned from the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah with permission to play in a handful of National League and Championship games in an attempt to get into form for the start of the World Cup.

It's great news for Lancashire as they effectively start their defence of the AXA League title they won last year, although National League matches will be 45 overs per side after the split to two divisions.

The trio should also be available for the trip to Essex next Sunday, and the Championship matches against Middlesex at Lord's next week and possibly at Leicester the week after. Lancashire will doubtless be glad to get away from Old Trafford with the Sussex game heading for an inevitable draw today after a second washout in three days yesterday. As groundsman Peter Marron pointed out last year, the high water table at this time of year makes playing cricket an unlikely proposition, and even though it did not rain much yesterday morning, the heavy overnight rain and snow had left the outfield saturated.

The only consolation for Lancashire - and Sussex - is the new Championship points system, with four points for a draw and only 12 for a win, so they will not lose too much ground on the counties enjoying better weather and lower water tables further south.

Both Lancashire and Sussex have taken two bonus points with Sussex reaching 285-5 in their first innings on Wednesday, so in the probable event of no further play today, they would have six points each.

Meanwhile the news that Glenn McGrath is looking for an English county next season has left Lancashire with a dilemma over their overseas player for the second year running.

They cannot afford not to be interested in the Aussie Test star, but after all the hassle involved in signing Muttiah Muralitharan in place of Wasim Akram, would prefer to keep the Sri Lankan off-spinner for more than the handful of games he will be able to play this season.

Cricket secretary Dave Edmundson confirmed today that Lancashire had been informed of McGrath's availability, but said: ``We have not discussed his name or made an approach.''