Daniel Bell-Drummond, Kent’s England Lions batsman, will lead MCC against the County Champions Essex in the annual first-class Champion County Match, which this year is taking place in Barbados.

Bell-Drummond will lead the side with Sam Northeast also named, although the former Kent skipper may well have left the county by the time the fixture takes place.

The day/night fixture, regarded as the traditional curtain-raiser to the English county season, but now regularly played overseas, will be played with the pink Dukes ball under floodlights across four days at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. The match will take place on March 27-30 and will follow the ECB North-South series.

The MCC attack will be led by the veteran Bajan fast bowler Fidel Edwards. Now 35, Edwards took seven wickets in the Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston as he helped his side avoid relegation on the final day of the 2017 campaign.

Edwards will have seam support from exciting 20-year-old prospects George Garton and Matt Fisher. Garton, who was unexpectedly drafted in to the Ashes Tour party as cover in November, is a left-arm seamer who has earned recognition with both England Lions and the Under-19s, whilst right-armer Fisher is beginning to restate his promise after a prolonged bout of hamstring trouble.

Paul Collingwood, who has spent the winter as part of England’s coaching set-up on the Ashes tour to Australia, is also included. Collingwood, 41, will soon embark upon his 22nd year as a professional with Durham. Collingwood will have great memories of the Kensington Oval, having led England to their first ICC tournament victory on the ground, defeating Australia in 2010 to win the ICC World Twenty20.

MCC XI: Daniel Bell-Drummond (capt, Kent), Brett D’Oliveira (Worcestershire) Sam Northeast (Kent), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Delray Rawlins (Sussex), John Simpson (Middlesex), Dom Bess (Somerset), Matt Fisher (Yorkshire), George Garton (Sussex), Fidel Edwards (Hampshire).