Nottinghamshire reached eight without loss having faced a solitary over before rain stopped play at Old Trafford.
Play was abandoned for the day at 3.15pm with Alex Hales (7) and Paul Franks (1) unable to add to their scores.
Director of Cricket Mick Newell has not included spinner Graeme White in his line-up with Luke Fletcher losing his place to Ryan Sidebottom.
"It was clear that even if the rain stopped that it wasn't going to dry out in time so abandonment for the day was the only option," said Newell.
"We think the pitch will take spin and we hope to negate Lancashire's two spinners by batting first.
"Had Ryan not become available then Graeme White would have played but I wanted to pick our best bowlers regardless of the conditions."
Nottinghamshire team: Alex Hales, Paul Franks, Mark Wagh, Adam Voges, Samit Patel, Ali Brown, Chris Read, Steven Mullaney, Andre Adams, Ryan Sidebottom, Darren Pattinson