LANCASHIRE welcomed back their England World Cup trio at Lord's today - but that meant bad news for the young guns.

Neil Fairbrother, Andy Flintoff and Ian Austin were all included in the team for the Championship game against Middlesex at the request of the England management who want them to play some cricket before the World Cup starts next month.

So there was no place for Paddy McKeown or Mike Smethurst, with Lancashire waiting to make a late decision between Mike Watkinson and Chris Schofield for the last place in the team.

It was a big disappointment for McKeown and Smethurst, who were both hoping the World Cup would give them the chance of an extended run in the first team. Smethurst let nobody down on his Championship debut in the rain-ruined match against Sussex at Old Trafford, picking up the wicket of Chris Adams to add to the six he got on his first class debut against Cambridge University the previous week.

McKeown effectively lost out to Mark Chilton, whose excellent early season form has secured an opening position.

But as coach Dav Whatmore pointed out, there are bound to be plenty more chances for McKeown and Smethurst once the World Cup gets going.

Lord's holds happy memories for Lancashire - in addition to their host of one-day final victories, they crushed Middlesex on their last Championship visit four years ago.

And in Lancashire's last Championship game in Middlesex, which was played at Uxbridge two years ago, a sensational performance by Peter Martin inspired another crushing victory.

But after a disastrous 1998 under the Australian coach John Buchanan , the Londoners are looking for a big improvement with Mike Gatting taking over as coach, Mark Ramprakash the captain and prolific Aussie opener Justin Langer back as the overseas player.

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