LANCASHIRE were aiming to banish their one-day blues with a return to Championship action against Kent at Old Trafford today.

Already this week, limited overs defeats by Gloucestershire and Kent have seen the club crash out of the NatWest Trophy and slump deeper into relegation danger in the National League.

But they are still third in the First Division of the Championship, and coach Bob Simpson was hoping that his players would take the chance to bounce back from this week's one-day disappointments.

"That's obviously what we are looking for," said the veteran Australian. "We have only played one bad match in the Championship, the last one against Surrey.

"Other than that we have generally played pretty solid cricket, particularly at home with the good spinners we've got. Hopefully they will be able to create a lot of problems for Kent."

Simpson also welcomed Peter Martin's return to Championship action after missing the last seven games with his thumb injury.

Martin had started the season superbly, with 18 wickets in six innings, until he was hit on the right glove by Dominic Cork on May 31 and he is still riding high in the top three of the first class averages.

He has bowled 22 overs since returning to first team action in the National League game against Gloucestershire last Friday, and Simpson added: "Peter is starting to bowl with a bit more rhythm now.

"He's lost a little bit of pace, which is only to be expected after being out for so long but there were some good signs against Kent the other night.

"He's a vital part of the Lancashire attack and has been for a long long while, so to have him back is a huge bonus for us."

Lancashire started the game third in the table, with Surrey already well on course to beat Derbyshire at the Oval and extend their lead at the top after skittling the Peakites for 118 an the first day yesterday.

But Yorkshire were finding things tougher at Leicester, so a win for Lancashire could take them back to second.

qRICHARD GREEN claimed five for 61 for Lancashire's second team at Chester-le-Street yesterday, but they were still battling to save the game today, conceding a first innings lead of 72 then slipping to 164 for six.