Both Jos Buttler and Martin Guptill are expected to play for Lancashire Lightning against Durham Jets in the NatWest T20 Blast on Friday at Emirates Old Trafford.
The Twenty20 superstars have fulfilled their IPL commitments with Mumbai Indians and are due to feature on Friday evening, as Lancashire look to bounce back from a hefty defeat against Derbyshire Falcons in their opening T20 fixture last week.
Buttler's last appearance for Lancashire coincided with Ashley Giles' side lifting the NatWest T20 Blast trophy at Edgbaston last summer, but the exciting wicketkeeper-batsman is due to play a substantial amount of cricket for Lancashire in all formats this season, in the hope of recapturing his place in the England Test team.
Despite his appearance for Lancashire this Friday, Giles has decided to rest Buttler for Lancashire's four-day trip to Headingley, stating that Buttler has been playing and travelling for too long and that Buttler and Lancashire would benefit from him taking a break.
Guptill - who is ranked the third-best Twenty20 batsman in the ICC rankings - is expected to make his debut for Lancashire after signing as an overseas player for the first six matches of the competition. The New Zealand batsman has scored 4,741 runs in Twenty20 cricket at an average of 35.11 and is renowned for his belligerent, hard-hitting approach at the top of the order.
He was the first New Zealand batsman to score a double-hundred in a One-Day International and he also holds the record for the highest score in a World Cup match, after scoring 237 not out against West Indies last year.
Lancashire started the defence of their Twenty20 crown in disappointing fashion, as they were beaten by nine wickets on home soil, with Derbyshire chasing down 132 inside 14 overs. However, the Red Rose have enjoyed scintillating form in the County Championship and will begin their Roses clash against Yorkshire as the leaders of Division One.
Durham also started their T20 campaign with a comfortable defeat, failing to chase a mammoth target of 226, as they were beaten by 36 runs at New Road last Friday. Phil Mustard, who featured on two occasions for Lancashire last season as cover for an injured Alex Davies, top-scored for Durham with 64 from 49 balls.
These two sides met recently in the four-day campaign, with Durham earning a convincing 73-run victory over Lancashire. It was, and remains, the only defeat Lancashire have suffered in five County Championship matches, with three victories taking Giles' side to the top of the table after many predicted that they would be flirting with relegation.
Lancashire 15-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Karl Brown, Nathan Buck, Jos Buttler, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (wk), George Edwards, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jarvis, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Neil Wagner.
Durham 13-man squad: Mark Stoneman (c), Usman Arshad, Scott Borthwick, Graham Clark, Paul Collingwood, Paul Coughlin, Keaton Jennings, Calum MacLeod, Barry McCarthy, Phil Mustard (wk), Ryan Pringle, Michael Richardson, James Weighell.
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