WHILE Lancashire were opening their season at Headingley today, three of their players must wait two more days before launching their bid for an Ashes place.

Jason Gallian, Warren Hegg and Glen Chapple were all unavailable for the four day Roses friendly because they have been picked in the England A team to face 11 more young hopefuls in the Tetleys Challenge at Edgbaston starting on Friday. All three toured Australia with England A last winter putting them on the fringes of Test selection, and know that a big performance at Edgbaston followed by a good start to the season with Lancashire would put them right in the frame.

Gallian suffered more frustrating hand injuries on the A-tour, but hopes he has sorted out the problem once and for all since returning to Manchester.

Nick Knight is the frontrunner to be Mike Atherton's opening partner in the Tests, but Gallian showed what he could do with his record-breaking 312 against Derbyshire, and will start the season in better shape than ever.

Hegg was arguably the biggest Lancashire success on the A-tour, keeping immaculately and scoring handy runs.

Alec Stewart starts as favourite for the Test gloves after his success in New Zealand, but Hegg will be looking to put himself ahead of Jack Russell if England decide to go for a specialist keeper.

After after six years with England under-19s and the A-team, Chapple merely has to start this season the way he ended the last one - with that sensational performance in the NatWest Trophy final at Lord's.

But the Earby redhead, insists: "That doesn't mean anything now. I've got to start the season well, not carry on from where I left off.

"But I've been pretty happy with my bowling so far on the tour of South Africa. The Edgbaston game is certainly a good platform for us all."

Lancashire won the toss in the Headingley friendly today and decided to field, Yorkshire reaching 10 without loss from the first five overs.

Pakistan captain Wasim Akram fears an arm injury could rule him out of Saturday's first Test in the two-match series in Sri Lanka.

"My bowling arm is not 100 per cent fit. The ligaments have got weak by playing too much cricket," Akram said.

All-rounder Akram, the only player in the world to have taken more than 300 wickets in both Test and one-day internationals, arrived with his team in Colombo for the short tour.

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