HAMPSHIRE regular Dean Morgan will miss the opening match of the Liberty Trophy campaign for a good reason - he is continuing to play outdoors on the other side of the Atlantic.

While bowlers over here are huddled indoors, the 34-year-old England international is this week in the 90-degree heat of appropriately-named Sun City in Phoenix, Arizona, determined to retain the Michael Ashton-Phillips International Cup that he won with Kirk Smith when it was held in California 12 months ago.

The Ashton-Phillips - named after a former Sussex bowler who died prematurely in America from cancer after doing so much for the game out there - is an international invitation pairs event, and Morgan and fellow England cap Smith from Buckinghamshire are out to win it against opposition from the USA, Canada and one other country, which last year was South Africa.

The English pair will then play at the same venue in the US Open, which carries 10,000 dollars in prize money, sponsorship being easy to find even though the game in America is small compared to the numbers who play in this country.

In the 2003 Open they made quite an impression, topped by 37-year-old Smith taking the singles titles and Morgan also winning a singles section for earlier losers. Besides singles and pairs they will team up with American bowlers for triples and fours.

Having played there last autumn, the Englishmen are prepared for the type of green conditions they will face. Surfaces are of fine grass with so much sand as a base that sand kicks up behind the woods when they are delivered.

As play can start as early as 8am they also know that the moisture and dew in the sand at that time of day make the green a lot slower than it is later in the day when the heat dries the surface out.

Morgan of East Dorset is not the only regular absent from Hampshire's Liberty line-up on Saturday (10am) against Sussex when three rinks will be at East Dorset and three at Denton Island, Newhaven. Fellow East Dorset bowler Ken Hann has asked not to be considered as he is shortly moving to the West Country.