Worcestershire coaches, players and staff are heading abroad next month for part of their 2023 pre-season preparations for the first time since pre-Covid-19.
Twelve players, plus Head Coach Alan Richardson, Assistant Coach Richard Jones and Head of Sports Science and Medicine Andy Powell, will be based at the Desert Springs Cricket Academy in Almeria in Spain for eight days.
They will fly out on February 23 and have the opportunity of outdoor warm training and practice sessions before returning on March 3.
The bulk of the players involved are those who have not been playing abroad during this winter.
But new rookie professionals Olly Cox and Rehaan Edavalath, who have been training and playing in Australia and India, respectively, before Christmas, are included.
Jack Haynes and Josh Tongue will also be part of the squad after completing their England Lions commitments in Sri Lanka.
Richardson said: “I think it is really important if we had the opportunity to do something.
“We obviously know that life has been very different recently. We were supposed to go to Abu Dhabi in 2020, and that couldn’t happen (because of COVID-19), and life has changed a little since then, economically and with travel.
“We’ve had quite a contingent who have been playing abroad this winter, and that is brilliant and important.
“Some have gone for the whole winter, some have gone for a couple of months.
“For those guys who haven’t had the opportunity to go away, it is just a nice opportunity to get outside and train for a week, do some work and kick-start us to be able to go outside at Kidderminster and the pre-season fixtures.
“The facilities there are great, and the boys can get outside and do some work after a long winter indoors at Malvern.
“It is where the Joe Root Academy is set up, and within that, there are a couple of grounds, lots and lots of net facilities, and a gym.
“The plan is we are out there for eight days, one of those a heavy travel day, so we will have three full days of cricket, have a day off in the middle, and then another three full days of cricket.
“It will be a heavy workload but a nice one for them to do.“
