Nasser Hussain will play his first Championship match in 12 months when Essex take on Leicestershire at Grace Road.

The England captain pulled on an Essex sweater for the first time this season in Sunday's National League clash against Surrey at Chelmsford.

But the Leicestershire duel will mark one of his rare appearances at Championship level.

Hussain has made just one outing in each off the last two summers, his last being against Notts when he collected a miserly five runs in two innings at Trent Bridge.

Tomorrow's game represents a chance for Hussain, who has been resting on ECB orders following his winter exertions in Australia and South Africa, to find his touch before the opening test against Zimbabwe starting at Lords on May 22.

The county's only other four-day game before that is the battle against Lancashire beginning at Old Trafford on May 14.

Who is likely to make way for Hussain is the big question; it will probably be Aftab Habib, who failed to score in the tied match against Warwickshire last week.

If Habib is dropped it will be a bitter disappointment for him because it would rule him out of lining up against his former team-mates.

Habib joined Essex from Leicestershire 12 months ago, as did all-rounder Jon Dakin, who is certain to play following his encouraging form with both bat and ball in the first couple of weeks of the season.

Ironically, the last time the two counties met in the Championship in 2001, Habib took a century off the Essex attack in a drawn match at Chelmsford that will hold fond memories for Darren Robinson.

The Essex opener made full use of a friendly batting pitch on that occasion to score a century in each innings for the only time in his career.

Published Tuesday, April 29, 2003

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