LANCASHIRE will enjoy their week's break knowing they have made an excellent start to the 2004 season.

A crushing win over the defending champions, Sussex, at Hove and a dominant draw in the rain-affected match at Northampton sees them lying third in the County Championship table - behind Middlesex and Kent.

It's too early in the season to be taking too much notice of league tables but after last season when their first four Championship games were drawn, Lancashire will be happy with one win from two.

They would have been joint second in the table if it hadn't been for a slow over rate at Hove, which cost them two points. That is something skipper Warren Hegg and cricket manager Mike Watkinson will want to keep an eye on.

Lancashire's next game is another Totesport League Division One clash,

against Kent at Old Trafford on Sunday.