Glamorgan's Gareth Rees picked by MCC for opener in Abu Dhabi
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Glamorgan's Gareth Rees has been selected by the MCC for the season opener against county champions Lancashire in Abu Dhabi in March.
Rees will follow county colleage Dean Cosker who played for the MCC in 2011.
"I'm delighted for Gareth that his efforts have been recognised by the MCC," said Matthew Mott, Glamorgan's head of elite development.
"He was one of the leading batsmen in the CB40 competition and also had a very solid record in four-day matches."
For the third year running, the champion county four-day match will be played under floodlights with a pink ball at the Zayed International Cricket Stadium starting on 27 March.
It will be preceded by the Emirates Airline Twenty20 - a four-way tournament featuring MCC, Lancashire, Durham and Sussex - played at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai on 23 March.
The selection of left-handed opener Rees comes on the back of a productive season in 2011 in both forms of the game. He made 954 runs in first-class matches, with his tally including a century against Surrey and eight other half-centuries.
He was also prolific in one-day cricket, especially the CB40 competition where he posted 567 runs with vibrant 100s against Lancashire and Essex, as well as four other scores in excess of 50.
"These games for the MCC present a great opportunity for him to play in some fantastic conditions, as well as with some very talented players. We all wish him well," added Mott.
MCC squad: Mark Ramprakash (capt), Stephen Peters, Gareth Rees, Moeen Ali, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Lewis Gregory, Hamish Marshall, Gareth Batty, Ian Blackwell, Rana Naved, Niall O'Brien, Alan Richardson.
