Lancashire will be hoping for a drier and brighter encounter against Essex at Chelmsford following successive washouts in their last two games.
The Lightning's final group game against Worcestershire in the Natwest T20 Blast fell victim to persistent rain and their 50-over curtain-raiser against Sussex was also abandoned without a ball being bowled at Horsham.
Essex have experienced a similarly disappointing run of luck with the weather, with their final group game against league-leaders Kent being abandoned without a ball being bowled and their first Royal London match against the same opposition ending in the same fate.
Both Essex and Lancashire were the benefactors of the bad weather in the Twenty20 format, as a draw was enough to secure a spot in the quarter-finals, but both sides will be hoping to put their skills to the test after a frustrating period of cricket.
Essex beat Lancashire in their only 50-over encounter in 2014 by six wickets after Tom Westley's 84 lead the Eagles to their target of 248 with an incredible margin of 11.5 overs to spare. Paul Grayson's side went on to reach the knockout stages of the tournament after finishing fourth in Lancashire's group, but they were beaten in the quarter-finals by runners-up Warwickshire.
Key Players:
Jesse Ryder played a key role the last time these two sides met in limited-overs cricket, scoring 71 not out off 54 balls to hand Essex a comfortable victory on home soil. The all-rounder started the season with a run of seven consecutive scores of 30 or more for Essex and New-Zealand side Otago.
Ryder played in seven 50-over matches for Essex last season and scored 369 runs at an impressive average of 92.25. In six innings, Ryder hit four half-centuries and his highest score last season came against Warwickshire in the quarter-final, where his score of 90 was unable to guide Essex to the semi-final.
Stephen Parry has been a consistently economical and dangerous spinner for Lancashire, but the Red Rose may be in danger of losing the left-arm spinner in the four-day cricket due to a lack of opportunities in the first team. Parry's reputation in limited-overs cricket has seen him represent England in ODI and IT20 cricket and the 29-year-old has also represented Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash alongside fellow Lancastrian Andrew Flintoff.
His record of 83 List A wickets at an average of 27.97 may not be staggering, but for a long time Parry has been renowned as one of the top one-day bowlers in the country and alongside his teammates Arron Lilley and Steven Croft, Lancashire are able to frustrate opponents with their spin options.
Team News:
Essex 13-man squad: Ryan ten Doeschate (c), Ravi Bopara, Nick Browne, James Foster (w/k), David Masters, Graham Napier, Aron Nijjar, Mark Pettini, Jamie Porter, Jesse Ryder, Reece Topley, Kishen Velani, Tom Westley.
Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (w/k), James Faulkner, Gavin Griffiths, Paul Horton, Kyle Jarvis, Arron Lilley, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Luke Procter.
Match Information:
Weather and conditions: Although it is not due to be particularly warm, the two sides will take some solace from the fact that the rain is likely to abate for this game. For a full weather forecast click here.
Ground: Chelmsford
Start time: 2.00pm (Floodlight game)
Umpires: Martin Bodenham, David Milns
Match odds (SkyBet): Essex 4/5, Lancashire 1/1
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