Peter Moores today warned his Sussex players to expect a backlash from his old friend Graeme Hick.

The former England player is desperate to shrug off the disappointment of his least productive season in two decades in the county game by helping Worcestershire retain their first division status.

Hick scored just 670 runs in the Pears' promotion campaign last year after his season was disrupted by a broken hand in June. He finished 114th in the national batting averages.

But Moores, who played with teenager Hick when he arrived at New Road from Zimbabwe in 1984, is convinced the 36-year-old still has the appetite to score big runs in county cricket.

"I've known Hicky for a long time. He's a good player and good players don't keep missing out," said Moores.

"We played them in a practice game at the start of the month and he looked in good touch.

"When you have achieved as much in the game as Graeme then there can be no question about his technical ability, it's whether he still has the desire to achieve things and I believe he has. We can expect no favours from him."

Hick will always have a soft spot for Sussex after becoming the second youngest batsmen to score 100 first-class hundreds against the county at New Road in 1998.

He got his 99th in the first innings and reached three figures again on the final day with a boundary off Mark Robinson. Play was then held up for several minutes while Worcestershire president Tom Graveney wandered onto the pitch to toast Hick's success with a glass of champagne.

Hick has since scored another 22 hundreds, equalling Graveney's mark and putting him joint-12th on the all-time list. Denis Compton, who has 123, and Graeme Gooch (126) could be overtaken if Hick has a productive 2004.

Worcestershire coach Tom Moody said: "Hicky had an unfortunate year in 2003 because he was just starting to reach top form when he broke his hand. He will see this season as an opportunity to make up for lost time.

"I also think there is no question about his hunger and desire to continue to break records and help us be as successful as possible."

Sussex are desperate to erase the memory of last week's ten-wicket defeat by Lancashire as they embark on a gruelling road trip which will see them play ten days out of the next 12 with a long journey to Durham in between.

Sunday's Totesport League win over Middlesex will have helped although Moores knows his side face another difficult encounter.

"It will be a tough game because they look a pretty good unit," said Moores. "But after last week there's no doubt we will be going into the match on fire from the first ball.

"The Lancashire game proved that if you're even just a little bit off your best you are going to struggle because there is no easy cricket anymore."

There's been nothing wrong with Sussex's bowling attack in the first two games of their Championship defence and Moores will be looking for a positive reaction from his batsmen after they were dismissed for under 200 in both innings against Lancashire.

"Apart from Monty, no one really got time in the middle, but I don't think it will be long before we are getting the scores of 350-400 which can put the opposition under pressure.

"I thought we bowled better last week than we did at Surrey when the pitch did a bit. On the second day we showed that we can open sides up, even on flat wickets.

"You never know what to expect at New Road. It can be a bit up and down or very flat but we have the attack that can adapt to all sorts of conditions."

Sussex are likely to name an unchanged side for the third successive game, although Tony Cottey has been added to the squad.

"Having Cotts and Mark Davis as well gives us a few options," added Moores.