Essex are heading out to Abu Dhabi for 11 days of pre-season training in mid-March and Anthony McGrath’s side will be one of four first-class County Clubs preparing for the 2019 season in the UAE.
The squad will fly out to the Middle East on Sunday 10 March where they will join Worcestershire, Somerset and Warwickshire. 50-over matches against Worcestershire and Somerset are scheduled for back-to-back days on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 March, whilst a day two-game against Worcestershire has also been arranged to start on Monday 18 March.
Other various training programmes will take place before the players fly home on Thursday 21 March ahead of their final warm-up match against Cambridge MCCU at Fenner’s, starting on Tuesday 26 March.
Head Coach Anthony McGrath is looking forward to the trip and said: “Pre-season is always an exciting time. The squad will all be back together, the warm weather training does everybody the world of good and you can feel the anticipation and eagerness for the upcoming season.
“There’s some strong opposition for us to play against too. We’ve got 50-over games booked in against Worcestershire and Somerset, and we’re also going to face Worcestershire again in a two-day match later on in the trip.
“We’ll be using those matches to get ourselves organised and sharp ahead of the 2019 campaign and ensure that when things get underway against Hampshire in April, we’ll be as prepared as possible.”
