Nottinghamshire’s Acting Director of Cricket Wayne Noon has confirmed the 15-man squad that will travel to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the MCC Champion County Match and The Emirates Airline Twenty20.

New signing Ben Phillips and academy graduates Jake Ball and Scott Elstone are amongst the group although Andre Adams, Darren Pattinson and Adam Voges won’t travel as they complete their domestic duties in the southern hemisphere.

Andy Carter is the other notable absentee following his call to join the England Lions tour but Chris Read, Samit Patel, Paul Franks and Mark Wagh will all travel.

“It’s an honour to be involved and the facilities and opportunities that will be provided for us in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are exceptional,” said Noon.

“There are places up for grabs although we have a firm idea of the core of our side and one or two players will probably find themselves in the team at the start of the season based on the form they show in the meantime.”

Indian Test batsmen Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly are the standout names in an MCC squad that also includes Australian Chris Rogers as captain.

Surrey’s Steven Davies, Somerset’s Steve Kirby and Hampshire’s Simon Jones are also in the squad along with emerging Afghan duo Mohammad Nabi and Hamid Hassan.

“There has been a lot of interest from our players about exactly who would be included in the MCC squad but their selection underlines how seriously they are taking the game,” said Noon.

“We’re going to pick a side that we feel can win the game but it’s clear that we’re going to get four days of intense cricket and that’s exactly what we need at this stage of our pre-season preparations.

“Bowling at Rahul Dravid in a four day game is the sort of challenge that I’d expect our bowlers to thrive on.”

Nottinghamshire squad: Ali Brown, Jake Ball, Neil Edwards, Scott Elstone, Luke Fletcher, Paul Franks, Alex Hales, Steven Mullaney, Akhil Patel, Samit Patel, Ben Phillips, Chris Read, Charlie Shreck, Mark Wagh, Graeme White

MCC squad: Chris Rogers (Middlesex & Australia), Steven Davies (Surrey & England), Rahul Dravid (India) (Champion County fixture only), Sourav Ganguly (India) (Twenty20 only),  Hamid Hassan (Afghanistan), Simon Jones (Hampshire & England), Gary Keedy (Lancashire), Steve Kirby (Somerset & England Lions), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Stephen Moore (Lancashire & England Lions), Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), Stephen Peters (Northamptonshire), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex),
Omar Ali (MCC Young Cricketer) (12th man).

Schedule
Sunday 27th March - Wednesday 30th March - MCC v Nottinghamshire, Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Friday 1st April - Emirates Airline Twenty20, 7he Sevens Ground, Dubai