"Taking part in the Abu Dhabi trip is a great honour. I went out there last year, also as captain, and I feel that it really helped my game and I became a better player for the experience.

"The 10-day tour will give us the early-season practice we need before starting our matches back in Cambridge on 31 March, and we'll be coached out there by Clive Radley, an ex-England international with a huge amount of experience and knowledge."

"The First Class victory against Surrey was the largest margin of victory for any MCCU over a county and I also managed to bowl Pietersen, which was probably the best moment of my career so far. To come up against one of the biggest names in cricket and knock his off stump and middle stump out was pretty special.

"Our first match at Fenner's is against Essex, which should be interesting as I've been training with them every Thursday and Friday. After the way we beat Surrey last year I know they will be treating it as a proper game and will send a pretty strong side. I don't know about Alastair Cook, but James Foster will be there and he has plenty of England experience.

"We then have Gloucestershire and Lancashire at home, which are 2 sides that we don't usually come up against. Coming from Lancashire I'm particularly looking forward to that one."