LINCOLNSHIRE chief Mark Fell has demanded his side make a sparkling start to their Minor Counties contest with Cambridgeshire – or risk hearing the last rites read on their Eastern Division title defence.

Only a win will do for skipper Oliver Burford's side in the three-day clash at Gorse Lane, Grantham, which starts tomorrow (11am).

Defeats in two of their first three championship matches has left Lincs, currently second-bottom in the table, playing catch-up on their Eastern Division rivals.

Lincs have made slow starts to every game, a trend Fell says must be reversed if they are to have any chance of holding on to their crown.

"Not so much in the last game (against Northumberland, which ended in a weather-affected draw), but too often we've been behind the eight-ball after the first innings and playing catch-up," he said.

"We can't afford to let that happen again. Whether we bat or bowl first, we need to start well.

"It was would be a major boost if we win the toss and bat, but we can't rely on that."

Fell accepts anything other than victory against third-bottom Cambridgeshire will end their faint chances of repeating last season's stunning success.

The Lincs director of cricket has kept faith with the side which turned in a much improved against Northumberland at Cleethorpes earlier this much.

"I'll back my players 100 per cent," he added.

"We haven't become a bad side, we won the league last year.

"Last season, virtually everything we tried worked, but that hasn't been the case this year.

"And I'll admit, we haven't been at our best this season, even in the Northumberland game when we played much better and could've won."

While confident Lincs have enough in their armoury to defeat old rivals Cambridgeshire, he says he will look to experiment in their final two matches if the right result is not secured over the next three days.

"If we don't win this match, we can't win the league," he added.

"If that's the case, we might make a few changes and experiment in the last two matches.

"There won't be wholesale changes, but it would be an opportunity to try other players.

"But that if we don't win and I'm always confident, if we play to our full potential, we'll get the right result."

Lincs and Cambridgeshire have already met once this season in one-day cricket in the Minor Counties Trophy – a match Lincs won by more than very comfortably at March.

However, Fell believes that will count for little tomorrow, insisting Simon Kellett's side will be much stronger.

"When we played them in the one-dayers, they were already out and played a weakened side," explained Fell.

"They will be much stronger tomorrow and will have people like Simon Kellett and Ajaz Akhtar back in the side.

"I'm surprised they are not further up the table."

Lincs: Martyn Dobson, Bill Kirby, Vikram Atri, Mathew Dowman, Paul Cook, Gareth Clough, Karanjit Bansal, Oliver Burford, Stuart Airey, Brett Houston, Aaron Onyon.