Victory for Yorkshire in their PPP healthcare Championship match against Kent, which begins at Headingley today, will substantially increase their lead at the top of the Division One table.

Closest rivals, Lancashire, just one point behind their Roses rivals, have no Championship fixture this week, and Yorkshire aim to take full advantage of the game they have in hand.

Yorkshire and Lancashire are the only two sides in the division with an unbeaten record, and if Yorkshire are able to extend their sequence it will guarantee huge interest in the Roses match at Old Trafford in a fortnight.

Having lost a close match with Somerset by two wickets last week, Kent have slipped into the third relegation place.

But they will be no pushover - particularly now all-rounder Mark Ealham is back with them after being released by England - and they are a stronger side than their present position indicates although Yorkshire held the upper hand in a tough encounter at Scarborough last year which they eventually won by five wickets.

Michael Vaughan rapped out scores in that game of 153 and 50 and he is intent on another big innings to make England rue not picking him for tomorrow's Test.

Vaughan was his usual confident self last week in scoring 94 against Durham at Riverside but England insist he still needs more time to get over the hand injury which laid him low.

Chris Silverwood will be champing at the bit to get among the wickets in his first match since the opening day of the season when he damaged his Achilles heel, the injury taking much longer than expected to clear up.

l Nick Knight's special insight into the vast talent of Brian Lara has given England plenty of cause for concern as they prepare for the opening Test against West Indies at Edgbaston.

Knight and Lara, who played for Warwickshire in 1994 and 1998, both return to their home ground knowing the pressure is on them to perform for different reasons at the start of the five-Test series.

Lara has not featured in a Test line-up since March, when he stepped down as captain following nine defeats in 15 Tests, and has even consulted a New York therapist in an attempt to recapture his desire for the game.

Despite his 176 against Zimbabwe at Arundel on Saturday, many critics believe the former world number one batsman is not ready to take on the demands of international cricket after so little time at the crease since his arrival in England.

Former Warwickshire captain Knight is under similar pressure having scored just seven runs in two innings during the drawn Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, particularly as Michael Vaughan is back in the runs again after his lay-off.

Typically he has shrugged off the competition presented by Vaughan to concentrate on his own game and is equally confident Lara will live up to his star billing and light up the forthcoming series.

Knight said: ''When he gets in, he's just a phenomenal player. He makes you feel pretty average batting at the other end because while you're trying to fend it off and trying to stay in, he's just whacking it through the covers.''

Knight's view of his fellow left-hander was formed during the eventful summer they shared with Warwickshire in 1998, when Lara was frequently criticised for failing to give his full commitment and averaged only 40, scoring just three hundreds.

But he was also able to view his talent at close quarters on his Test debut in 1995 at Old Trafford, when Lara hit a superb 145, and also in the following Test at Trent Bridge, when he scored 152