WARREN HEGG will lead Lancashire in their most important game of the season against Durham at Blackpool tomorrow.

John Crawley is again unavailable because of his recent family bereavement, so Hegg retains the captaincy for the C&G quarter final, played at Blackpool because of a Robbie Williams concert at Old Trafford.

He is boosted by the return of Mike Atherton, who will open the batting with Glen Chapple, with Mark Chilton coming in for Crawley at number three.

Joe Scuderi is also back in contention after his back problems, and Lancashire have also recalled Gary Yates to the squad.

Yates has been the forgotten man at Old Trafford for the past two years.

The off-spinner had been a regular in the one-day team for most of the decade, playing in several Lord's finals.

But last year he made only three Championship appearances and nine in one-day Cricket, and this summer it has been even worse with a single first-team appearance against Durham University.

But coach Bob Simpson said: "Gary has a lot of experience of big matches, and we have brought him into the squad to cover all contingencies."

That suggests the Blackpool pitch is going to favour spin.

There was no sign of that when Lancashire beat the Warwickshire Cricket Board there in this year's competition, but two years ago Muttiah Muralitharan and Chris Schofield teamed up to spin Lancashire to a Championship victory over Glamorgan at Stanley Park.

It will be Durham's third one-day game in Lancashire this season but they seem destined not to play at Old Trafford.

A Benson and Hedges Cup group game in May was switched to Liverpool because Lancashire thought they would be hosting a Corrs concert at Old Trafford. Then the Norwich Union National League match last week was abandoned because of a hole in the covers, and now this quarter final has been taken to Blackpool because Old Trafford is being prepared for three Robbie Williams concerts this weekend.

Lancashire have a superb record against Durham but the north-east county beat them in the B&H at Liverpool, and underlined their improved one-day form by beating Gloucestershire in Bristol in the last round.

Lancs (from): Atherton, Chapple, Chilton, Flintoff, Fairbrother, Lloyd,

Hegg (capt), Scuderi, Schofield, Chapple, Martin, Wood, Yates.