GLOVEMAN Luke Sutton is hoping the 'genius' of spin-king Muttiah Muralitharan will swing the Championship title Lancashire's way this year.

Lancashire begin their bid to land a first championship outright since 1934 when they face Warwickshire at Edgbaston tomorrow.

Their chances of wrestling the coveted title from champions Sussex are vastly improved with Sri Lanka ace Muralitharan on board.

Once the World Cup is over, Muralitharan, 35 today, will fly back to Old Trafford for his fourth spell as an overseas player at Lancashire.

It is unclear how many matches the master off-spinner will play in the 2007 season, but Sutton is confident the prolific wicket-taker will make a huge difference regardless of his availability, due to his phenomenal ability at deceiving batsmen.

"He's a genius, a match-winner," said Sutton. "I think it will be the biggest wicket-keeping challenge of my career and I'm really excited about it.

"He is so unique in his action and his manner - that's what makes him so difficult to play as a batsman and to keep wicket to.

"I've been putting in the preparation in the winter, watching the DVDs and simulating what it will be like but there is no way you can replace the real thing.

"When he gets here I'm just going to have to work really hard with him and try to pick up on his action.

"Everyone is excited about him being here, he is an out-and-out match-winner at the highest level. His record speaks for itself.

"There is no doubt that if we are playing well and he is playing well we will win a lot of matches this year but I think the focus for the rest of the squad is we have to play well."

Muralitharan - second only to Shane Warne on Test cricket's all-time wicket-taking roster - had three previous spells with Lancashire grabbing 152 wickets in only 20 games.