Rain threatens to turn into a damp squib Yorkshire's top-of-the-table Championship clash with Sussex which is due to start at Headingley Carnegie today.

Heavy downpours throughout yesterday left the outfield very wet and the weather forecast holds out little hope of any immediate improvement.

The wet conditions are bitterly disappointing both for the players and the fans because the contest has the makings of being the biggest home attraction of the season.

The fact that Yorkshire head the table and Champions Sussex are only five points behind means that it is already a battle of the giants without throwing in any of the other factors.

Sussex skipper, Chris Adams, returns to Headingley for the first time since he stunned Yorkshire chief executive, Stewart Regan, in the middle of last November by telephoning him to say that he was not taking up the appointment of captain and director of cricket which he had accepted so enthusiastically only a fortnight earlier.

And Adams has still given no explanation why he should drive from Hove to Headingley to meet the Yorkshire players one evening and then say he was not coming the very next day.

As things have turned out, Adams did Yorkshire a favour because the Darren Gough-Martyn Moxon combination has revitalised the Tykes who have regained much of the confidence which had sapped away from them.

Regrettably, Gough cannot meet Adams face-to-face on the field over the next few days because the Yorkshire captain is nursing a broken bone in his right hand.

Ironically, this means that Yorkshire are being led by official vice-captain, Anthony McGrath, who, like Adams, wanted to get away from Headingley last winter, but in the end was persuaded to stay.

McGrath now has a get-out clause in his contract which will allow him to leave at the end of the season if he so wishes, but at the moment he seems content enough with the new regime and is in splendid form with the bat.

Yorkshire make just two changes from the side which drew with Kent at Tunbridge Wells last week, all-rounder, Ajmal Shahzad, replacing Gough, and Gerard Brophy, now recovered from a hand injury, taking over the wicketkeeping role from Simon Guy.

Adil Rashid retains his place in the side, despite not having taken a wicket in his last two Championship matches while conceding 242 runs, but conditions did not suit spinners either at the Riverside or Tunbridge Wells. Rashid may well gain some inspiration from Sussex spin king, Mushtaq Ahmed, who has been in tremendous form again this season.

Joe Sayers goes into the game having scored match-winning centuries in Headingley's two previous Championship games this season and the compact left-hander cannot be far away from being awarded his county cap.