After the heady excitement of the Ashes, Old Trafford will still be buzzing today as one of the most crucial Roses matches in recent years gets under way.

Yorkshire are second in the Second Division table with Lancashire holding the third promotion spot and only two-and-a-half points behind.

Both sides still have five matches to play and each has a game in hand over leaders Durham.

Roses games are never taken lightly but extra tension is guaranteed today because the winners will almost certainly clinch promotion with the losers left with work to do.

Yorkshire boast the only unbeaten record in either division of the Championship, but only heroic batting from Matthew Hoggard prevented them from losing to Lancashire at Headingley in June.

Bradford-born Anthony McGrath goes into today's match in good form and he needs 146 runs out of the game to complete 1,000 runs in a season for the first time.

This season is the first since 2002 that Yorkshire have met up with Lancashire and McGrath still has fond memories of the Headingley encounter of that year when he plundered 165 and put on 317 for the third wicket with Darren Lehmann who made 187.

"I think it is great that we have got Roses matches in the Championship again because you always want to play against the old enemy," said McGrath.

Yorkshire (from): Wood, Sayers, McGrath, Jaques, Lumb, White, Dawson, Dawood, Silverwood, Bresnan, Kruis, Wainwright.