ZANDER de Bruyn could miss Worcestershire's opening three County Championship games.

The South African all-rounder is involved in the Standard Bank Pro20 Series with his side Nashua Titans and, if they reach the April 27 final, he would miss the County's vital clash with Lancashire which gets under way on that Wednesday.

The best case scenario is that his province is knocked out before the semi-final stages and that could see the Test star arrive at New Road before Worcestershire's second Championship game at Durham on April 20.

"We always knew that this could happen," said Tom Moody, Worcestershire's director of cricket. "However, we will be monitoring his situation and his side's progress."

The County are at Chelmsford today for the start of a two-day friendly with Essex. With the weather forecast looking bleak tomorrow, however, the two sides will play a 50-over match today to make sure of some practice. Worcestershire's two-day friendly at Derby last week was a wash-out.

Zimbabwean spinner Ray Price makes his first appearance of the pre-season along with new skipper Vikram Solanki, named at five in the order, while Moody continues his policy of playing both wicketkeepers James Pipe and Steve Davies.

"We are going to be fairly relaxed about the match," added Moody. "The game is not about the result, it's about time out in the middle."

Worcestershire: Moore, Peters, Hick, Smith, Solanki, Batty, Davies, Kabir, Pipe, Price, Mason, Wigley.