India batsman Rahul Dravid is part of a strong MCC squad for the curtain-raiser to the new English season.
Davies and Jones included for season opener
India batsman Rahul Dravid and former England seamer Simon Jones have been named in a strong MCC squad for the curtain-raiser to the new English domestic season.
County champions Nottinghamshire take on MCC from March 27-30 at the Zayed International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi - before both teams participate in the Emirates Airline Twenty20 Trophy alongside Durham and Sussex.
Australian batsman Chris Rogers, who moved from Derbyshire to Middlesex during the winter, is captain of a squad that also includes England and Surrey wicketkeeper Steven Davies and Afghan duo Mohammad Nabi and Hamid Hassan.
Dravid will be replaced by Sourav Ganguly, his former India team-mate, in the Twenty20 side.
Pink ball
This will be the second year in succession that the flagship match has been staged abroad and will be played under floodlights with a pink cricket ball.
"MCC is very pleased to be returning to Abu Dhabi for the champion county match," said MCC head of cricket John Stephenson.
"We felt that we got some very positive results from the first day-night champion county match last year, and hope that this evidence will soon translate into day-night Test cricket, which should help to re-invigorate the five-day international game."
MCC squad: Chris Rogers (Middlesex, capt), Steven Davies (Surrey, wkt), Rahul Dravid (India, champion county match only), Sourav Ganguly (India, Twenty20 Trophy only), Hamid Hassan (Afghanistan), Simon Jones (Hampshire), Gary Keedy (Lancashire), Steve Kirby (Somerset), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Stephen Moore (Lancashire), Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), Stephen Peters (Northamptonshire), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex), Omar Ali (MCC young cricketer, 12th man)
