The Saturday Interview. . .

WEARING the gloves comes so naturally to Warren Hegg, they have almost become an extra layer of skin on his hands.

However, for Lancashire's world record-holding wicketkeeper, this season the gloves are well and truly off!

Don't worry, the man known affectionately as 'Chucky' to his team-mates will still be diving around the lush counties of England this summer like a man possessed.

But the popular Red Rose captain is ready for a fight - a massive heavyweight title bout, in fact.

Hegg and his team-mates have already won round one. The Red Rose men left Sussex, the side that pipped them to the title last year, well and truly flat out on the canvas last weekend as they cruised to a comprehensive 10-wicket victory.

Now Hegg hopes the momentum of that win will prove to be the catalyst for an indian summer in his own career.

Last season was a remarkable one for all Lancashire followers as Hegg guided his side to runners-up spot in the Frizzell County Championship, a C&G semi-final, and the NCL Second Division title.

For most counties that would constitute success but Lancashire have loftier ambitions.

The County Championship title is the one they desperately crave.

It's 70 years since Lancashire last won it outright - an incredible statistic when you consider some of the cricketing legends that have passed through the gates of Old Trafford in the intervening years.

Each captain has had to live with the growing weight of expectation that surrounds domestic cricket's greatest prize and the longer it alludes the club, the heavier the burden is to bare.

But the feeling is this could be the year that the Red Rose finally blooms and Hegg believes his intriguing mix of seasoned professionals and exciting young colts may well have found the recipe for success.

"I think the fact we haven't won it for so long rests on the minds of the supporters more than it does with the players," said Hegg, who played in two Tests for England.

"The supporters are always talking about the championship.

"The nucleus of our side, in myself, Peter Martin and Glen Chapple, have been around for a long time so there's only three out of the 11 who maybe feel that pressure.

"But the young lads who've come through have no fear of the game and the millstone of not winning the championship is not an issue for them.

"They just get on with their cricket and try their best and hope the results will come."

Hegg already knows he has his work cut out in matching last summer's achievements when Lancashire finished runners-up for the fourth time in six seasons.

But the recruitment of Dominic Cork from Derbyshire and the emergence of Sajid Mahmood could turn out to be the missing pieces in the jigsaw.

Cork's arrival, in particular, has already captured the imagination of the county's cricketing public.

The England all-rounder has charisma by the bucketful and his skill and experience will strengthen the spine of the team, particularly in the absence of Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson, who'll be away for most of the summer due to international commitments.

Already, Cork has started to prove his worth with a couple of meaty contributions during the opening weeks of the season.

And Hegg has his own special phrase to describe what his new talisman will bring to the team over the coming months.

"I think the term at the moment is 'box office'," said Hegg, who holds the wicket-keeping world record for the greatest number of dismissals (11) in a match.

"Dominic Cork is one of the people you'd pay to go and watch cricket.

"He's good with the bat, he can turn a game around with the ball, he's a dynamic fielder, and he'll give us a bit more steel throughout the side.

"Although we've got a lot of good youngsters coming through, we just felt we were a little bit short on experience if the likes of a Peter Martin or Glen Chapple fell down early in the season.

"At the end of the day, we like to think of ourselves as one of the forerunners of the County Championship and one of the bigger clubs so if a player of Dominic's ilk becomes available then we want to be in the running to sign him.

"He can see the vision we've got here and the way we are going forward so hopefully we can repay him with a bit of success."

Cork will have a pivotal role to play in nurturing Lancashire's stable of exciting young bowlers.

On the batting front, runs should once again be in plentiful supply.

Last summer, Mark Chilton, Mal Loye, Stuart Law and Carl Hooper ruthlessly dismantled virtually every bowling attack in the land on their way to creating a new club record for the amount of centuries in a season.

It was exhilarating stuff to watch and that ability to create imposing totals made the job of being captain all the easier for Hegg, who knew his top six could rescue any situation.

Now the challenge for the skipper is to get his bowling attack performing to the same consistent levels.

On paper, at least, all the ingredients are there: the experience and reliability of Peter Martin and Glen Chapple; the raw pace and aggression of Mahmood and Kyle Hogg; the guile and craft of Gary Keedy; and the inspirational qualities of Cork.

It's Hegg's job to bring all those elements together and come up with the winning formula.

"I've said it time and time again that I don't profess to be a Mike Brierley or a Steve Waugh kind of captain," said Hegg.

"I take advice off all my players, whether they are senior or junior, and if they can offer us two per cent in the way of getting better in anything we do, then that's all well and good.

"I won't be pig-headed enough to do it all my own way.

"As for the team, you're always looking to improve and last year was a terrific effort.

"I think the batsmen got 28 hundreds between them and the bowlers got through some real hard graft.

"To match that, we know how much hard work we've got to get through.

"And to go that one step further, will require even more.

"But we've got a great bunch of lads here and if everything clicks then who knows?"