Shaun Udal is looking forward to another "competitive" showdown with Sussex in tonight's Twenty20 opener at Arundel.

Udal will captain Hampshire in the absence of Shane Warne as the Hawks aim to avenge their C & G Trophy exit against Sussex at Hove two weeks ago.

Dominic Thornely was allegedly spat at by a spectator as Hampshire crashed out of the C & G Trophy by five wickets and with an over to spare under the Hove floodlights.

Thornely responded by throwing his Hampshire cap at the spectator, an action for which he has since apologised, while Shane Warne accused James Kirtley of bowling with an illegal action after the match.

Captain Udal said: "Sussex are probably the most competitive side we've played against this season and that's because both sides are full of winners.

"They're led by a fighter and a winner in Chris Adams and Shane Warne has made us even more competitive over the last few years and we've responded to that.

"I won't deny that there have been a couple of incidents between the sides in recent years.

"But no one has stepped over the mark but nothing that has been included in umpires' reports or anything like that."

Hampshire (from): Carberry, Stokes, Benham, Lamb, Thornely, McLean, Pothas, Mascarenhas, Udal, Tremlett, Taylor, Balcombe.

Sussex (from): Prior, Yardy, Adams, Goodwin, Heather, Hopkinson,Martin-Jenkins, Wright, Mushtaq Ahmed, Kirtley, Yasir Arafat, Rayner.

For full preview, see tonight's Daily Echo.

Don't miss tomorrow's Echo for Simon Walter's match report and reaction from Arundel.

And, on Thursday, Dimi Mascarenhas gives his views in his exclusive Daily Echo column.