LANCASHIRE are ready for revenge against Surrey.

That was the message from batting hero Warren Hegg after they completed a third straight Championship win to climb to second in the First Division table at Old Trafford yesterday.

After tonight's floodlit National League game against Essex, and the start of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy on Wednesday, Lancashire will head for London for a clash with the Surrey team who have denied them the title for the last two seasons.

And as Hegg said: "It's a massive game for us but we couldn't go into it with more confidence. We didn't really perform at the Oval last year and it was the game that cost us the Championship. Hopefully we can do ourselves justice this time."

Muttiah Muralitharan will again hold the key to Lancashire's hopes and stands to claim another chunk of Red Rose history.

He took three of the last six Essex wickets yesterday to end with match figures of ten for 123 - the sixth time in 11 Championship appearances that he has taken ten or more wickets, giving him 30 wickets in three appearances at Old Trafford, 23 of them against unlucky Essex.

It left his tally on 94, meaning that another six at the Oval would give him probably the fastest ever century of wickets for the club. "We were always confident that Murali would start taking wickets again," added Hegg. "He's a terrific bowler to keep to, and his enthusiasm in the dressing room is infectious -- he's a pleasure to play alongside."

But the win against Essex was a terrific team effort, with Peter Martin knocking over the last two wickets yesterday -- to follow Glen Chapple's three-wicket burst the previous day and two handy wickets for Gary Keedy in the first innings.

Skipper John Crawley also praised the performance of Hegg and Mike Atherton in allowing Lancashire to post 431, their highest total of the season, in the first innings, with Atherton and Crawley then completing a nine-wicket win yesterday.

"It was a great performance by Warren and Athers which gave us such a good platform," said Crawley, who also impressed with the way he rotated his bowlers in each innings.

"Everything is going well for us at the moment."

Now bring on Surrey.