James Tredwell will come up against several England team-mates in the Yorkshire side © Getty Images
The MCC has named a team featuring five England Test cricketers to play Yorkshire in the Champion County match next month. Ian Bell had already been announced as captain and he will lead his Warwickshire team-mate Rikki Clarke, Graham Onions, James Tredwell and Scott Borthwick.
Kent offspinner Tredwell played for England most recently, alongside Bell in the Caribbean last year, while Borthwick won his sole Test cap to date on England’s ill-fated 2013-14 Ashes tour. Onions took 32 wickets in nine Tests between 2009 and 2012, while Clarke played two Tests in Bangladesh in 2003.
Two Essex batsmen who hope to have England futures are included, in Nick Browne and Tom Westley, while England Lions James Harris and Jake Ball will join Onions in the seam-bowling attack. Promising Surrey pair Rory Burns and Ben Foakes make up the XI.
The Champion County match, which begins on March 20, will be preceded by the Emirates T20 tournament, featuring MCC, Yorkshire, Lancashire and the UAE. Former Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara will join the MCC side for the T20s.
“We have put together a squad with a great mixture of youth and experience that are capable of challenging Yorkshire, and I’m sure it will be an engaging fixture for everyone involved,” John Stephenson, MCC’s head of cricket, said.
“In Ian Bell, we have one of the best England cricketers of recent years, and there is plenty of international experience throughout the rest of the group – as well as a number of young players with the potential to play for England. I’m confident our squad can do MCC proud, put on a good performance and uphold the Spirit of Cricket throughout the tour.”
MCC Champion County XI: Nick Browne (Essex), Rory Burns (Surrey), Scott Borthwick (Durham), Ian Bell (Warwickshire, capt), Tom Westley (Essex), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire), James Harris (Middlesex), James Tredwell (Kent), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Graham Onions (Durham)
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo