Reigning LV County Championship holders Sussex have endured a miserable time in this season's Friends Provident Trophy.

The Sharks went into the weekend having won just one of their opening five fixtures and rooted to the bottom of the South/East table.

One of those defeats came at the hands of Essex, who secured a rain-affected 14-run victory at the Ford County Ground on April 27.

And Sussex could have already been eliminated by the time today's clash gets underway.

The south coast county's woes in the tournament have largely been centred on their bowling, with Sussex's seamers and spinners taking just 22 wickets in their five matches.

Robin Martin-Jenkins and James Kirtley, the Sharks' leading wicket-takers, have just five Trophy scalps between them.

In contrast, Essex's Graham Napier has taken eight wickets in just three matches, while David Masters has seven and Ravi Bopara five.

While their bowling has been a weakness, however, the 2006 Trophy winners' formidable batting line-up has looked as strong as ever.

Four players - captain Chris Adams, former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, Carl Hopkinson and Martin-Jenkins - are all averaging over 50 in the competition.

Today's match could see two of Pakistan's greatest ever leg-spinners go into battle, with Essex welcoming Danish Kaneria back for his fourth spell as the county's overseas player and Sussex able to call on the services of a fit-again Mushtaq Ahmed.

Essex: Pettini (capt) Gallian, Chopra, Bopara, Flower, ten Doeschate, Foster (wkt), Middlebrook, Napier, Tudor, Masters, Wright, Danish Kaneria, Palladino.