Lancashire embark on the 1999 season, knowing that they will lose Fairbrother, Flintoff and Austin on World Cup duty and hoping that Atherton will quickly recover from the back problem which has prevented him joining them in World Cup action. But it provides an excellent chance for the younger members of the Lancashire squad to prove themselves. Mark Chilton has already made the earliest ever century in English first-class cricket in the match at Fenner's and scored a fine 87 against Sussex. He looks likely to make a big impact in his first full season at Old Trafford. Mike Smethurst, the tall 22 year old paceman from Middleton in the Central Lancashire League, has started his first year on the staff with a bang, taking six wickets at Cambridge and forcing his way into the first championship game. Chris Schofield from Littleborough, another former CLL player, has taken wickets even if conditions have not been favourable to leg-breaks early on and has scored useful runs. Paddy McKeown twice beat his best first-class score at Cambridge. If the county can make a reasonable start while the stars are missing, there seems no reason why, when the strongest squad is available, including the magical Muralitharan, they cannot go on to win more trophies under their new skipper, John Crawley.