Both shook off the injuries which ruled them out of the championship victory over Surrey.
But Warren Hegg was again missing with his bruised thumb. In his absence, John Crawley again acted as emergency wicket keeper, leaving Lancashire with an even more formidable batting line-up than usual.
Mike Atherton returned from Test duty and was set to open with Andy Flintoff, fresh from his record-breaking innings on Sunday.
Crawley was down to come at three followed by Fairbrother and Graham Lloyd, with Mike Watkinson then heading a list of six bowlers.
Lancashire were aiming for revenge after last year's shock defeat by Sussex at Hove in the second round of this competition.
It is a much stronger Sussex team this year after the winter signings of Aussie all-rounder Michael Bevan and Chris Adams from Derbyshire.
Adams was set to renew his bitter personal feud with Wasim Akram, which was re-opened when Wasim recalled their stormy clash in the 1993 Benson & Hedges Cup Final in his recently published autobiography.
However, the cloud on both team's horizon was a miserable weather forecast both for today and tomorrow's spare day. The start was delayed today by an untimely shower, and there was even the prospect of the dreaded bowl-out.