Durham star Ian Blackwell has described his selection for the MCC side to face champion county Lancashire at Abu Dhabi this week as “a great privilege”
The former Derbyshire, Somerset and England all-rounder is the club’s only representative in a strong composite side captained by Mark Ramprakash and including the likes of Rana-Naved-ul-Hasan and Hamish Marshall to name just a couple.
An annual curtain raiser to the English domestic season, the fixture will be played under lights at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium and with the pink ball as experiments continue with regards to the viability of day-night Test cricket.
There is just one slight issue for the 33 year-old player, and it is completely understandable. He would rather be playing against the MCC than with them.
“It’s a great privilege to be playing for such a prestigious club as the MCC,” said Blackwell, who had a double hernia operation last November. “But, if you’re not good enough to win the league, you don’t expect to be playing against them.
“We’re lucky enough as a county to come here to the UAE on a pre-season tour anyway, but there’s no hiding away from the fact that you’d rather be here as champions and get the privileges and plaudits that Lancashire are now getting.
“Fair play to them. They obviously played on outgrounds for the whole of last season, which meant that they had more results than they maybe would have had at Old Trafford.
“Having said that, they still had to win their games. They did well to get into a position to win matches regularly.
“We beat them twice and a couple of other teams turned them over, but they still managed to get more wins than anybody else and a few draws.”
Despite linking up with his MCC team-mates at their base overlooking the Yas Marina Grand Prix circuit over the weekend, Blackwell has already played for Durham whilst in the Middle East.
He played in the 40-over clash with the British Universities before taking part in the Emirates Airline T20 event.
“It’s quite pleasing to be honest when you sit down and reflect on selection,” he said. “At first, getting selected, you’re not sure whether it’s a good thing or bad thing as we come to the back end of pre-season.
“But it’s a chance to come out here and play some outdoor cricket in a good team that the MCC are going to put out.”
And, as for Durham’s chances of taking Lancashire’s place in next March’s fixture, Blackwell is confident.
He added: “We’ve got some ageing players, but ones who can still provide plenty of quality. Then you’ve got the youngsters like Borthwick and Stokes who are bursting onto the scene.
“We’d like to think we’ve got the squad capable of being up there. We just need to get the bits of luck that you need to win Championships to go our way.”