Brett D’Oliveira has been included in the MCC side to face Essex in the prestigious annual first class Champion County Match which is being staged this year in Barbados.
The Worcestershire opener had already been named – along with Joe Clarke – in the ECB North side to face the South in the three-match 50 over series in the Caribbean.
Now he will move from that series and feature in the day-night fixture, regarded as the traditional curtain-raiser to the English county season.
It will be played with the pink Dukes ball under floodlights across four days at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.
The match will take place between Tuesday 27th and Friday 30th March.
It is the THIRD time in four years that Worcestershire have been represented in this fixture.
Opener Daryl Mitchell was called up in 2015 to face Yorkshire after a prolific summer the previous year – and room shared with the then England Test captain Alastair Cook.
Then last March Clarke and keeper Ben Cox were included in the MCC line-up against Middlesex.
D’Oliveira enjoyed a successful summer in 2017 in the Specsavers County Championship, scoring nearly 900 runs, and also impressed with his economical bowling in white ball cricket.
Bajan and former West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards will lead the attack for MCC, with Daniel Bell-Drummond captaining the talented line-up.
The line-up also includes the vastly experienced former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood. The 41 year-old has spent the winter as part of England’s coaching set-up on the Ashes tour to Australia and is soon to begin his 22 nd year as a professional with Durham.
Collingwood will have great memories of the Kensington Oval, having led England to their first ICC tournament victory on the ground, defeating Australia in 2010 to win the ICC World Twenty20.
MCC Head of Cricket John Stephenson said, “This is a young, talented and exciting team which we’re very much looking forward to seeing take on Essex, and gaining exposure to the longer format of day-night cricket.
“This group boasts plenty of experience, not in only county cricket but also with several of the England sides. We are lucky to have Paul Collingwood and Fidel Edwards with us who are vastly experienced players at both international and domestic level.
“I’m looking forward to seeing them both in action when they will be able to pass on some of their knowledge to the younger players in the side.
“MCC is delighted to be hosting the Champion County match in Barbados, continuing our collaboration with the ECB. We hope that this match will provide a platform for the iconic Kensington Oval to go on to host a day-night Test Match in the near future.”
Last season’s Champion County match, in Abu Dhabi, was a dramatic affair as 2016 County Champions Middlesex defeated MCC by one wicket, overcoming a 153-run first innings deficit and a hat-trick from MCC’s Craig Overton.
MCC XI to play Essex at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados:
Daniel Bell-Drummond (c) (Kent)
BRETT D’OLIVEIRA (Worcestershire)
Sam Northeast (Kent)
Sam Hain (Warwickshire)
Paul Collingwood (Durham)
Delray Rawlins (Sussex)
John Simpson (Middlesex)
Dom Bess (Somerset)
Matt Fisher (Yorkshire)
George Garton (Sussex)
Fidel Edwards (Hampshire)
