Mike Yardy will captain Sussex against MCC at Lord's on Friday.

Chris Adams is not playing because his wife Sam is about to give birth to their third child.

Adams is not the only high-profile absentee in Sussex's last game before the start of their Championship defence against Kent a week today.

Opener Richard Montgomerie is also missing for personal reasons while Rana Naved is not due to link up with the squad at Lord's until Saturday.

Perhaps the most worrying absentee is left-armer Jason Lewry, whose pre-season preparations have been hampered by a virus.

Lewry, Sussex's most successful seamer last season with 57 wickets, has been laid low for the nearly a month and has lost a stone in weight.

He was still not well enough to attend yesterday's photo call at Hove and is unlikely to be ready in time to face Kent.

Coach Mark Robinson said: "Jason was better at the weekend but has since suffered a bit of a relapse. He has had some blood tests and once we get the results then we hope we can get to the bottom of it.

"You can't write him off at this stage but I very much doubt if he will be able to play against Kent."

Chris Nash will open the batting with Carl Hopkinson while Chris Liddle is likely to take Lewry's place in the seam attack. Mushtaq Ahmed arrived yesterday and will play at Lord's but because it is a first-class fixture Sussex will not be able to play Saqlain Mushtaq.