ENGLAND coach Duncan Fletcher has denied Lancashire fans a rare chance to see James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff at Blackpool this week.

Fletcher has told the centrally-contracted pair to take a complete break ahead of the start of the Test series against South Africa at Edgbaston next week - even though that means neither will have played any first class cricket for more than a month.

It will be more of a disappointment for the Lancashire members and supporters planning a trip to Stanley Park for the Championship game against Kent today than for the Lancashire team, who were expecting the worst.

Anderson starred in his only previous Championship appearance at Blackpool, destroying Somerset last August with match figures of nine for 57.

Flintoff has also relished returning to the ground where he played so much league cricket as a lad, and it seems a shame that Fletcher has not allowed him to play as a specialist batsman - as he did so successfully when recovering from his shoulder injury earlier this season.

Lancashire could certainly have done with their international stars as they will again be missing Iain Sutcliffe, Gary Keedy and Kyle Hogg because of injury and illness for a game they need to win to retain any hopes of overhauling Surrey at the top of the Championship table.

The champions are now 51 points ahead of Lancashire after playing two more games, while they have also slipped 25 points behind second-placed Sussex after their win against Essex at Arundel on Saturday.

Lancashire are set to name the same team who came within one wicket of beating Essex at Chelmsford in their last Championship game.

Kent are struggling in the relegation zone but will make the long trip north in good spirits after their first win of the season against Notts in Maidstone last week, when Pakistani paceman Mohammad Sami took 13 wickets.

Martin Saggers returns to the Kent side, the seamer comes back into contention after five weeks on the sidelines following knee surgery.

Ben Trott is also named in a 13-man squad, with one of Rob Ferley and James Tredwell - both off-spinners - expected to be left out of the team.

Amjad Khan is overlooked despite progressing well in his recovery from shin splints, while Min Patel remains unavailable due to a long-standing back problem.

Meanwhile Lancashire have lost top spot in the Second Division of the National League to Northants, who won at Durham yesterday to reclaim the leadership, although both counties are strongly-placed for promotion.