Surrey have Kumar Sangakkara and Kevin Pietersen at their disposal for the LV= County Championship Division Two clash with Glamorgan at the SWALEC Stadium from tomorrow.
Sri Lankan great Sangakkara is set to make his debut for his third county while Pietersen, who blasted 170 against Oxford MCCU last week, is in line for his first Championship appearance in almost two years.
However, Surrey are missing paceman Chris Tremlett due to a slight hamstring problem sustained against the students at the Parks.
Australian seamer Michael Hogan is still missing for Glamorgan with a hamstring injury, meaning on-loan Nottinghamshire seamer Andy Carter should continue.
The hosts, set for their biggest four-day attendance for some time, will be hoping to repeat their heroics from their first match of last season, when they defeated Surrey by 10 wickets at the Kia Oval.
Glamorgan skipper Jacques Rudolph, a former Surrey player, told the club’s official website: "It's a great challenge for our side - on paper Surrey obviously have a very good team.
Tremendous net session this morning ..really good to watch pic.twitter.com/DCa2zBkGqK
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) April 17, 2015
"But I've seen in the past where teams with a lot of superstars can fold if you play well against them."
New head coach and cricket director Ashley Giles will come up against former Warwickshire colleague Graeme Welch when he takes charge of Lancashire for the first time against Derbyshire at the 3aaa County Ground.
Giles is likely to hand South African batsman Alviro Petersen and Australia seamer Peter Siddle debuts, but veteran Glen Chapple is hampered by a calf injury while Jos Buttler and James Anderson are on England duty in the Caribbean.
Nathan Buck is also looking for his first start after swapping Leicestershire for Lancashire in the off season.
The seamer believes it is imperative for the Red Rose to get off to a good start in their quest for a return to the top flight at the first attempt.
He told ecb.co.uk: “It's massively important (to get a good start). The fact we've got so many games in a small amount of time, if we can get a couple of wins under our belts straight away momentum will just keep building and before we know it, we could come to June, July and be right up there and that would be where we'd like to be.
. @LancsCCC 's squad for the opening @LV_Cricket fixture against @DerbyshireCCC starting on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/mFT8o6IiUm
— Lancashire CCC (@LancsCCC) April 17, 2015
“It's key to start well and I reckon we've got a good chance.”
Derbyshire, boosted by the inclusion of big-hitting New Zealander Martin Guptill, could give Buck’s former Foxes team-mate Shiv Thakor his bow.
Tony Palladino and Chesney Hughes, who both missed the recent victory over Cambridge MCCU, return to a squad that is missing injured pair David Wainwright and Jonathan Clare.
This is the first time Derbyshire and Lancashire have collided in a Championship match since 2005.
Essex are missing several players for their first outing of the campaign, when they welcome Kent to the Essex County Ground.
England Test skipper Alastair Cook is on international duty, key batsmen Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate are both away at the Indian Premier League, while seamers Reece Topley and Matt Salisbury are injured.
But Essex can call on the services of New Zealand all-rounder Jesse Ryder for the second anniversary of the Mike Denness Challenge Shield, set up last year in memory of the former England batsman who captained both counties.
Essex won the shield in 2014 after collecting the most points, with two awarded for a County Championship win and one for a limited-overs victory or a draw.
On Ryder’s return, Essex head coach Paul Grayson told the club’s official website: “It’s great to have him back and he looks in really good condition.
“He’s a natural cricketer and one of the most gifted players I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with.
“He’s a real asset with his batting and bowling and it’s just great to have a top-quality all-rounder in our top order. I know that he’s looking forward to another big season for us.”
Matt Coles and Joe Denly are expected to make their second debuts for Kent, after rejoining the county from Hampshire and Middlesex respectively, but spinner James Tredwell is with England in the West Indies and Brendan Nash is ill.
LV = County Championship facts
Glamorgan v Surrey
* Glamorgan have not beaten Surrey at home in the Championship since 1983 (lost five, drawn 11).
* Glamorgan scored 513 runs in innings one against Leicester in week one, the last time they scored 500+ when batting first was in 2009.
* Surrey have won just twice in their last 24 away games (D13, L9) , however these two wins have come in their last four games on the road.
* Jason Roy was one of eight players to score 1,000+ runs in Division Two last season, he had the best strike-rate of any of them (84.78), in fact he had the best strike-rate in the Division of any one to score 200+ runs.
* Will Bragg scored a career-high first-class score on 120 in week one.
Derbyshire v Lancashire
* One of the last eight Championship games between these teams at Derbyshire have been drawn (Derbyshire three wins, Lancashire four).
* Lancashire have won four and drawn two of their last six against Derbyshire.
* The last time these sides met in the LV= County Championship was in 2005, due to this lack of recent games it means that Derbyshire’s last win over Lancashire was back in 1997.
* Wayne Madsen was Derbyshire’s top-scorer in the Championship last season, he was one of eight players to break the 1,000-run barrier in Division Two in 2014.
* Lancashire won just once on the road last season, losing four of their matches away from Old Trafford.
Essex v Kent
* Essex are unbeaten in their last six Championship games against Kent (won two, drawn four).
* Against all opposition Essex are unbeaten in their last 12 home matches, winning their last four on the bounce.
* Sam Billings and James Foster both notched up 56 dismissals in Division Two last year, only Mark Wallace of Glamorgan recorded more.
* Billings made more stumpings (six) than any other wicketkeeper in county cricket last season.
* Kent have lost just twice in their last 13 games when they have won the toss, one of these defeats coming against Essex in Chelmsford last season.