LANCASHIRE will fly out to South Africa for their pre-season trip tomorrow without Ian Austin.

The popular all-rounder has effectively been squeezed out by the winter signing of John Wood for Durham for the three-week, seven-match tour. And it has made Austin more convinced than ever that he will not be playing much Championship cricket for Lancashire this year.

"I've not been able to speak to our coach Bob Simpson because he's in Australia but I've been told that I've not been picked because Bob knows what I can do," said the 34-year-old, who has signed anew one-year contract with Lancashire.

"If that's the reason, it seems a pretty poor one to me, because you could say the same about six or seven of the other lads who are going. I suppose he just expects me to turn up for the first one-day game of the year and land the ball on a sixpence."

Lancashire insist that Austin has not been written off as a one-day specialist, but the player himself is not so sure.

"They've basically said I'll play one-day cricket," he added.

"That's the bottom line, although they don't seem to want to say it. I'm also free to pro in the Lancashire League for Haslingden, and obviously they think that's good enough to keep me in form."

Austin's omission, as well as the absence because of international commitments of Mike Atherton, Andy Flintoff, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chris Schofield and captain John Crawley, means it will be a new-look Lancashire team for the first of six 50-over games on the trip, against Eastern Province Academy on Sunday.

Vice-captain Warren Hegg will take charge until Crawley and Schofield arrive in time for the only three-day game against Boland Academy which starts on Sunday week, with Lancashire also facing Yorkshire in a one-day match at the Newlands ground in Cape Town on March 31.

There are three new faces in Wood, the former Worcestershire batsman Ryan Driver and Tim Roberts, another batsman from Northamptonshire who has played a number of games for Lancashire's second team in the last two years. But there is no place for youngsters James Anderson and Kyle Hogg.

Squad: Hegg (captain), Fairbrother, Chilton, Driver, Lloyd, Roberts, Scuderi, Martin, Chapple, Smethurst, J Wood, Yates, Keedy, Crawley, Schofield.

Itinerary: March 18 v Eastern Province Academy (50 overs); March 19 v Eastern Province Invitation XI (50 overs); March 21 v Southern Cape XI (50 overs); March 25-27 v Boland Academy; March 29 v Western Province A

Academy (50 overs); March 31 v Yorkshire (50 overs, Newlands); April 1 v Western Province (50 overs, Newlands).