Worcestershire CCC's players have landed in Abu Dhabi to begin their 11-day pre-season tour.
Skipper Daryl Mitchell and the 16 strong squad plus coaches and backroom staff took part in a pool recovery session following their overnight flight from Heathrow.
The players will then undertake their first warm weather training session later today.
Worcestershire have similar sessions planned on Sunday and Monday before taking on Essex in the opening game of the tour on Tuesday.
The County wil also do battle with Warwickshire and Derbyshire out in the UAE in a mixture of red ball, T20 and 50 over cricket.
It is the third successive March that Worcestershire have used Abu Dhabi as a base for part of their pre-season preparations.
The squad have all rejoined together after their different paths during the winter.
Some of the squad stayed at New Road and Malvern College while half a dozen players played grade cricket in Australia and South Africa.
It is the first pre-season trip for first year professionals, paceman Josh Tongue and spinner Ben Twohig.
With Tom Fell undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and Alex Gidman having retired through injury, players will be particularly keen to impress in the battle for places in the middle order.
