Steve Peters or Tim Hodgson will get the nod to take over from England captain Nasser Hussain when Essex play Championship rivals Lancashire at Old Trafford today.

Both have been named in a party of 13 for a clash in which the County will come up against world class off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

Peters has been overlooked at Championship level since the opening match of the season against Leicestershire, while Hodgson's last taste was in the final game against Northamptonshire last summer.

All-rounder Danny Law is also poised for his first four-day outing of the campaign, one which marks a "return home" for Ronnie Irani.

He will be leading Essex in the absence of Hussain, who will be captaining his country for the first time when the Test series against New Zealand starts at Edgbaston later in the week.

"It will be a tremendous thrill to lead out the troops in the game - it will be like a Lord's final," said Irani, who spent several summers on the Lancashire staff before joining Essex for the start of the 1994 season.

"I haven't managed to skipper a winning team in the Championship so far, so it would be something extra special if I could pull it off at Old Trafford.

"Without Nasser in the side achieving victory is bound to be that much harder, but we won't be lacking in confidence.

"I've been happy with the way we've bowled in recent Championship games. We've got lads capable of putting batsmen under pressure, but to help them we have to make sure we put a fair number of runs on the board."

Muralitharan undoubtedly represents the biggest danger to Essex. The Sri Lankan off-spinner has taken a staggering 24 wickets in his two Championship games since the World Cup.

"We can expect the pitch to turn," said Irani with a wry smile. "But while acknowledging Muralitharan's a world-class performer likely to pick up eight wickets or more, I also know we have a batsman in Stuart Law who is capable of getting 150 runs.

"We have to focus on what we can do well - not worry about the opposition. If we can do that over the next few days then I believe we will be okay."

The Essex party is: Irani, Robinson, Grayson, S Law, Walton, Peters, Hodgson, D Law, Hyam, Ilott, Cowan, Such and Anderson.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.