Tom Smith has been named in a 14-man squad to face Derbyshire Falcons in Lancashire Lightning's opening NatWest T20 Blast match at Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday.
The former Lancashire captain, who spent the majority of last season sidelined with a severe back injury, has been making a comeback in Lancashire's Second Team after sustaining a groin injury during the pre-season trip to Dubai.
Lancashire will be hoping to become the first English side to defend the Twenty20 title in the competition's 14-year history, as they start their campaign against Derbyshire, who have never made it to Finals Day.
Derbyshire's best finish came in 2005, when they reached the quarter-finals, but the Falcons have failed to progress from the North Group every other season. Lancashire, meanwhile, have been to the semi-finals on six occasions, making them one of the most consistent and strongest performers in T20 cricket.
The Lightning ended their long wait for one-day silverware last August when they beat Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Edgbaston, lifting their first piece of limited-overs silverware since 1999.
Kiwi Neil Wagner could also make his Twenty20 debut for Lancashire after making an impressive start to life at Lancashire in the County Championship, claiming 11 wickets on his debut for the Club. Gavin Griffiths returns to First Team action after becoming only the fifth person to bowl a maiden at Finals Day last summer, when Lancashire beat Hampshire in the semi-finals for the second successive season.
Lancashire are without Australian all-rounder, James Faulkner, who took 25 wickets in last year's competition, but they do have the experienced limited-overs spinner, Stephen Parry, who recorded the same number of scalps to help the Lighting lift the trophy last season.
Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (wk), George Edwards, Gavin Griffiths, Kyle Jarvis, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Luke Procter, Tom Smith, Neil Wagner.
Derbyshire 13-man squad: Wes Durston (c), Neil Broom, Andy Carter, Ben Cotton, Matt Critchley, Scott Elstone, Alex Hughes, Chesney Hughes, Wayne Madsen, Jimmy Neesham, Tom Poynton, Hamish Rutherford, Shiv Thakor.
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