Rogers, Dravid to star for MCC in English opener

Australia's Chris Rogers will captain an MCC side featuring India great Rahul Dravid against champion county Nottinghamshire, it was announced Tuesday.

For the second year in a row the traditional curtain-raiser to the English season, a four-day game from March 27-30, will be played in Abu Dhabi.

"I was delighted to be invited to play in this match, and to be asked to captain is a huge honour," said Victoria batsman Rogers, who joined Middlesex from Derbyshire in the close season.

"The side boasts an enormous amount of talent, and I am really looking forward to meeting my team-mates, and playing for MCC for the first time in this historic fixture."

MCC will also see two Afghanistan internationals, Hamid Hassan and Mohammad Nabi, in the squad.

This match will again be played under floodlights, using pink balls and with players wearing traditional whites, in a bid to develop the case for day/night Tests.

MCC will also play in a five-team Twenty20 competition in Dubai where the side will be led by former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

MCC squad:

Chris Rogers (Middlesex and AUS, capt), Steven Davies (Surrey and ENG, wkt), Rahul Dravid (IND -- Champion County fixture only), Sourav Ganguly (IND -- Twenty20 only), Hamid Hassan (AFG), Simon Jones (Hampshire and ENG), Gary Keedy (Lancashire), Steve Kirby (Somerset), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Stephen Moore (Lancashire), Mohammad Nabi (AFG), Stephen Peters (Northamptonshire), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex), Omar Ali (MCC Young Cricketer)