Worcestershire will be boosted by the presence of England all-rounder Moeen Ali when they begin life back in the LV= County Championship top-flight against champions Yorkshire at New Road.
Moeen has recovered from the side strain he suffered during England’s World Cup defeat to Bangladesh in Adelaide last month and will be out to prove his fitness, and form, as he aims to join the Test squad in the Caribbean.
The Pears could have not asked for a tougher start, as they celebrate their 150th anniversary, but they might have caught Yorkshire at the right time.
The White Rose have six players away on Test duty while skipper Andrew Gale still has a match to run on his suspension.
First-team coach Jason Gillespie confirmed on Friday that former England Under-19s skipper and all-rounder Will Rhodes will open the batting, in place of the absent Adam Lyth.
New signing Cheteshwar Pujara, Ryan Sidebottom and Matthew Fisher have been added to the XI that drew with Leeds/Bradford in the week.
On Rhodes filling in for Lyth, Gillespie said: "Rhodes will open the batting with Alex Lees. We are backing him to do that job, and I am sure he will do it very well. If they are good enough, they are old enough.”
Worcestershire have been able to include Sachithra Senanayake, the Sri Lankan spinner they have signed to fill in for Saeed Ajmal following his recall by Pakistan, after he arrived in the country on Saturday morning.
New Middlesex captain Adam Voges will immediately face a date with his former employers when Nottinghamshire head to Lord’s.
The 35-year-old’s stay at HQ will be restricted by his Australia call-up, after a recording-breaking Sheffield Shield campaign, but has a month to kick-start Middlesex’s campaign.
Nick Compton is set to make his second debut while Sam Robson and Steven Finn will have points to prove after being overlooked for England tour of the West Indies.
South Africa paceman Vernon Philander is set to make his Notts first-class debut while winter signings Brendan Taylor, Will Gidman and Greg Smith are all in the 13-man squad.
Notts have not won at Lord’s in the Championship since 2006 – Samit Patel is the only member of this squad who played in that game – and seamer Luke Fletcher admitted fortune might have sent them elsewhere to begin the season.
“It is a tough start. We lost quite heavily at Lord’s last year,” he told ecb.co.uk.
“We will try and put that to the back our minds.”
Durham will look to arrest their poor recent record against Somerset when they meet at Taunton.
The north-east county have won just one of their past 14 Championship games against Somerset. Durham have lost only three of those but each of those defeats came at Taunton in the last four years.
New Somerset director of cricket Matt Maynard has included off-season recruits Tom Cooper, Jim Allenby and Pakistan left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman.
Both Overton twins, Jamie and Craig, who turned 21 on Friday are also named. Marcus Trescothick is starting his 23rd season in first-class cricket and hit a century in a warm-up game against Lancashire.
Durham are without bowling firepower with Ben Stokes and Mark Wood on England duty, but Graham Onions came through their game against Durham MCCU this week after suffering a slight groin injury on their pre-season trip to Dubai.
Hampshire will play their first game in Division One since 2011, but are without two winter recruits.
Jackson Bird, the Australian seamer, has a slight shoulder injury and Andre Adams is short of fitness.
Brad Wheal, an 18-year-old South African with a British passport who is here on a development contract and impressed in pre-season, could make a surprise debut while Gareth Berg is also in the squad.
Sussex are set to give debuts to two off-season signings – Tymal Mills from Essex and Ajmal Shahzad from Notts. Matt Prior is not included in their squad.
Sussex have not lost to their south-coast rivals in the Championship since 2005, winning four and drawing six of the 10 meetings since then.
LV= County Championship facts
*Hampshire’s James Vince was the leading Championship run-scorer last season – he hit 1,525 runs at an average of 61. He hit 225 boundary fours, 28 more than anyone else.
*Sussex seamer Steve Magoffin (192) has taken more Championship wickets than anyone else since the start of the 2012 season.
*Middlesex have won their opening Lord’s fixture in the past four Championship seasons.
*Nottinghamshire’s last eight Championship matches have produced a winner.
*Somerset’s average first-innings total at Taunton last season was 386.
*Chris Rushworth (22) took the most Championship wickets lbw last season.
*Of players to bowl at least 200 deliveries in the 2014 Championship, Steven Patterson bowled the highest percentage of dot balls (82.4%).
*Twenty-six of Tim Bresnan’s 30 victims last season were batsmen in the top six, the highest proportion across both divisions (minimum 20 wickets taken).
*Since the start of the 2013 season, Worcestershire have won nine, drawn five and lost just two of their 16 Championship home games.