Hampshire v Warwickshire at Southampton
Hampshire will continue their attempt to continue their good start to the season as they welcome what looks to be the division's weakest team to their impressive new Southampton ground.

These sides met last in the most recent four day game for both – a coincidence the like of which those responsible for ECB fixtures should perhaps do more to avoid. On that occasion Nick Knight struck an imperious double century as he and leading bowler Alan Richardson smashed the county's 1996 record last wicket stand adding 214 as the side made their highest total for the season to date.

The visitors statistics are dominated by Knight's 483 runs and Richardson's 14 wickets, but other players have already made important contributions and, of course, South African captain Sean Pollock is sure to make his mark with the ball at some point, they will certainly need some more penetrative bowling from somewhere especially if Ashley Giles is on test duty as their attack has only taken an average of one wicket every 76 balls while conceding three runs an over.

Hampshire will, unlike in the last meeting between the sides be have the inspirational batting form of John Crawley. Like their guests they come into this game with a key weapon (the bowling of Alan Mullally) misfiring, but unlike them they have had two other players, Johnson and Tremlett, step into the breach to contribute key wickets when needed.

Kent v Sussex at Tunbridge Wells
Kent's bowlers have, like Warwickshire's dropped two of nine possible bonus points, unlike them they have recorded ten with the bat and gained a win. Behind the steady Robert Key Kent's batting is a collective affair, with the likes of Ealham, Fleming and Min Patel, not to mention keeper Paul Nixon. They face a Sussex attack that lacks a bowler of great fire or high strike rate and will both hope and expect to score runs.

Sussex are expected, once again, to be without the fine form of their captain, though backing up Montgomerie who batting well and Murray Goodwin due a score, are Yardy and Martin-Jenkins, the rest of the cast also stay around a while. As for Kent only Martin Saggers has excelled with the ball yet in 2002 the bowling side that raises its game will be the one to have a shot at victory.

Lancashire v Surrey at Manchester
In the first meetings between these sides both were able to call on their England players and, of these, it was Andrew Flintoff who played the starring role striking a magnificent century in the London Sun. For the London side the star of the show was stand in overseas player Azhar Mahmood who's eight second innings wickets set up their victory.

Neither player will be available for this weekend's confrontation, as Lancashire look to derail a Surrey campaign that has slowed from the headlong charge with which the championship favourites and leaders began the season. Surrey will also be without Thorpe, Stewart, Tudor and Butcher all of whom are on test duty. Any comfort the home side might draw from this is likely to be dampened by the knowledge that the weakened Surrey side is undefeated since 1998.

Lancashire will have to decide whether to risk going into the game with two spinners, in Keedy and Schofield, who have not impressed against a batting side that features in Ramprakash, Shahid and Brown players who can rapidly gain the ascendancy over bowling of less than the highest order. They will also be keen to see a bigger contribution with the bat from their homegrown players who have left too much of their run scoring up to this season's new signings Law, Byas (absent injured) and Swann – the mooted return of Neil Fairbrother may help redress the balance. Peter Martin who missed the Oval defeat leads with the ball and is available to join Chapple and Hogg who impressed in that game.

For Surrey's part the order of the day is to return to the kind of batting form with which they set to season's first two rounds alight this may, oddly be made easier by the absence of some established stars as Shahid, Clarke and Carberry have impressed on their outings this year and two of them will be in the team. When test match duty has hit the Surrey roster in recent years there has also been an impressive one-for-all solidity to the batting that their last two championship outings, at full strength, have lacked. Nadeem, being as an excellent close fielder to spin bowling will also be a welcome asset in that capacity.

With the ball Surrey will regret the absence of both Tudor and Mahmood, but their reserves are deep and Ormond and Giddins will be available to fill the seam void while the spin twins will be looking to enjoy the outing on one of the season's more spin friendly road trips.

Old Trafford has, in recent years gained a reputation as a spinning wicket, given the good weather forecast for Manchester and the presence of Saqlain and Salisbury this could well be enhanced over the coming days.

Leicestershire v Yorkshire at Leicester
Another chance for Yorkshire to register their first win of the season and an opportunity for the new look Leicestershire side to further enhance their unexpectedly high championship standing.

A visit to a side of Jack Birkenshaw is the last thing that an out of sorts team will relish, and the returns that Devon Malcolm and Phil Defreitas have made in recent weeks with give the home team more cause for confidence, and, with Darren Maddy, who leads their bowling averages they can take the wickets necessary. Stevens, Wells and Bevan provide the bulk of the runs, although as always at Leicester the rest muck in too – most notably veteran all rounder Phil Defreitas.

Yorkshire may no longer be bottom or have the lowest points per game average in the division but their improving team are still up against it. The lack of their contacted players affects the Tykes badly – although Kirby, Silverwood, White and Sidebottom are between them capable of humbling most sides they have failed to do so yet, and spring has in recent years provided Yorkshire with a rich crop of points. Kirby and Silverwood though are returning to the strike rates that made the Yorks seam attack so feared.

The loss of Michael Vaughan in a year when their batting has been desperately fragile is a bitter pill to swallow, their full time bats should look at the fact that White and Blakey have produced more runs than any of them and knuckle down if they don't want to be playing in the second division next summer.

                          P   W  L  D  Bat Bowl  Deduct Points
Surrey                    4   3  0  1  12  12    0.25   63.75
Leicestershire            5   2  1  2  17  14    1.00   62.00
Hampshire                 5   1  1  3  17  14    0.00   55.00
Lancashire                4   2  1  1  11  12    0.00   51.00
Somerset                  4   1  0  3  13  11    0.00   48.00
Sussex                    4   0  1  3  12  11    0.00   35.00
Kent                      3   1  1  1  10   7    0.00   33.00
Yorkshire                 4   0  3  1   7  12    0.00   23.00
Warwickshire              3   0  2  1   5   7    0.00   16.00

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