Worcestershire flew home from their pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi without skipper Daryl Mitchell who will now turn his attention to being part of the MCC squad for the annual curtain raiser with champion county Yorkshire in Dubai from March 22-25.
Mitchell is relishing the prospect of linking up with the likes of England captain Alastair Cook, Nick Compton – a team-mate at New Road when briefly on loan from Somerset in 2013 – and Michael Carberry.
The MCC squad will arrive in Abu Dhabi tomorrow (Tuesday) before taking part in the Emirates T20 tournament on Friday in Dubai which also features Lancashire, Sussex and Yorkshire.
The four-day Champion County match will be a day-night match played with a pink ball under the MCC Spirit of Cricket banner.
Mitchell said: "It's another reward if you like for a good season last year. Obviously I got a lot of runs and really enjoyed my batting last year.
"I felt that I played well for the majority of the year, lost a little bit at the end which was a bit disappointing, but 1,350 runs I was happy with that.
"It was highlighted a little bit more with the success of the club and getting that promotion.
"It puts you in the limelight a little bit more and puts your name up there a little bit more. It's a real honour and it's a really good side as well.
"I might end up batting at five or six looking at the squad and that's something a little bit different.
"I'm really looking forward to picking the brains of the Comptons, Carberrys and Cooks who have played at the highest level and opened the batting at the highest level.
"Even at my age, I can learn off a lot of those guys hopefully."
