Preview: Sussex Sharks v Lancashire Lightning Royal London Cup

Lancashire's 50-over campaign starts with a trip to Horsham, where they will face Sussex in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

It is the first time Lancashire have visited Horsham for a List A game since 1994, a game which the Red Rose won by seven wickets after a century from Michael Atherton. It is the first List A fixture between these two sides since 2010 and the first one-day encounter since Lancashire beat the Sharks in the Twenty20 format at Hove in 2011 to progress to Finals Day.

Lancashire experienced a disappointing spell in the 50-over contest last season. Their campaign began with resounding defeats against Yorkshire and Hampshire on home soil and it felt as though the tournament was over for the Lightning before it had even got going. 

Ashley Giles’s men will no doubt be focusing on cementing promotion to the first division of the County Championship and their Twenty20 campaign could add further pressure to the current demand should they progress from the North Group. Lancashire may therefore give opportunities to younger players, but with the likes of James Faulkner available they will at least be hoping for an improvement on their return from last season. 

Sussex experienced a similarly disappointing campaign, recording only three wins in eight group games, as they also finished second-bottom of their respective group. The south-coast side are currently involved in a relegation battle in the first division of the Championship and their impressive form in the Twenty20 competition has seen them earn a home quarter-final.

Key Players:

Luke Wright has been in good form all season and his prowess in one-day cricket will no doubt be crucial to Sussex's chances in this competition. The 30-year-old all-rounder has represented England in more than 100 one-day matches and a return of 564 runs in the Twenty20 format demonstrates his destructive capabilities in white-ball cricket. 

Karl Brown is likely to be a vital contributor for after scoring 373 runs at an average of 62.16 in the 50-over campaign last season. His pedigree in one-day cricket has been apparent for some time, though his form in the County Championship has been something of a revelation. Lancashire's One-Day Player of the Year for 2014 is capable of pacing the ideal innings for this format, as he demonstrated against Yorkshire last season when he recorded a career-best 129, an innings which was in vain.

Team News:

Sussex squad: TBC

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: The biblical weather which ruined the final round of group matches in the T20 Blast looks set to return for Lancashire's first 50-over game of the season. Heavy rain will arrive in the morning and is likely to continue throughout the day, making it difficult for an outground to cope with the amount of rain that is likely to fall. For a full weather forecast click here. 

Ground: Horsham

Start time: 10.30am

Umpires: Paul Baldwin, Jeff Evans.