Cricket: Knight Looks to Giles and Bell

Warwickshire's record of 11 previous finals in the domestic game's most glamorous one-day competition should give them an edge when they face Hampshire today, despite a heavy defeat by their opponents in the championship this week.

This is Hampshire's second one-day final and only Glamorgan, with one, and Durham, who have never made a final, have inferior records.

Hampshire's innings defeat of Warwickshire on Thursday is also reduced in significance because Warwickshire will be strengthened by the return of four key players. They welcome back not only the England pair Ashley Giles and Ian Bell but Trevor Penney and Neil Carter, as Nick Knight plans an appropriate conclusion to his spell as the county's captain.

"It is a difficult scenario because a couple of good players who have played good cricket for us this season will miss out," he said.

"I really feel for those guys but it is a decision we have to make. We played poorly in the championship game but we're totally refocused."

Warwickshire have won the cup five times, most recently in 1993 and 1995, and were runners-up in 1994 when they won county cricket's three other prizes.

Hampshire have won the one-day competition once, defeating Surrey in 1991.

However, Hampshire's acting captain Shaun Udal (acting for Shane Warne) is confi- dent that Warwickshire will not win because of experience.

"We've got plenty of that ourselves," he says. "Myself, John Crawley, Nic Pothas and Andy Bichel have all played in finals. Shane Watson has played international cricket for Australia and Sean Ervine has had experience with Zimbabwe. Then there is Kevin Pietersen, who has also played a lot of international cricket."

Knight says he is concentrating on getting the minds of his own players right, rather than studying videos for weaknesses among the opposition.

"Kevin is obviously a very dangerous player. But you can spend so much time working out how to get a certain player out and it's often one of the players you didn't spend so much time over that goes out there and has a great day."

Shane Warne cannot play because Hampshire are contracted to alternative overseas players until the end of the Ashes tour. But he will still be a vivid, chain-smoking presence on the Hampshire balcony.