Middlesex have announced plans for a pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi, where they will play against four county sides in preparation for the new season.
The club had opted not to travel abroad to warm-up for the county season since 2012, when they toured Cape Town.
However, they will now join several other counties in Abu Dhabi between March 10 and 20, and are set to play a mix of 50 and 20-over matches against the likes of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Worcestershire, Derbyshire, as well as an MCC Universities side.
However despite the plans they are also planning to continue with their normal preparations, which involve setting up a marquee over a grass net area which will allow the players to practice on a real wicket.
The plans have been made in an attempt to provide match practice and help improve performances in white ball cricket in 2015 due to the focus on batting on flat wickets.
Middlesex's pre-season tour matches are as follows:
- Fri March 13: Middlesex CCC v Worcestershire CCC (50 overs)
- Sun March 15: Middlesex CCC v Derbyshire CCC (50 overs)
- Tue March 17: Middlesex CCC v MCC Universities (T20)
- Wed March 18: Middlesex CCC v Lancashire CCC (T20)
- Wed March 18: Middlesex CCC v Yorkshire CCC (T20)
- Fri March 20: Middlesex CCC v MCC Young Cricketers (50 overs)