Essex and Sussex to play matches in Abu Dhabi as part of pre-season training camps

English cricket clubs Essex and Sussex are in Abu Dhabi for an 11-day training camp ahead of the new County season and will play each other in several matches during their stays in the capital.

Both teams arrived in the UAE last weekend and will play each other in two T20 matches, a 45-over game and a two-day fixture. The T20 games will be a double-header at the Tolerance Oval on Friday, played at 2.30pm and 6.30pm, with the second of those games broadcast live via Abu Dhabi Cricket's YouTube channel.

Essex captain Alastair Cook leads his team's trip to the UAE capital, returning to a venue that holds great memories for the former England skipper. Cook scored his second-highest score in Test cricket by making 263 against Pakistan at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in 2015 and also represented Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in the County Champion match at the same ground earlier that year.

"It's always great to come back to place where you scored runs. When you've played one of those innings, you look back on them with great fondness," Cook said. "The facilities here are fantastic, we're incredibly well looked after by everyone and, for us as a county, it's served us really well."

Cook hopes that putting in the "hard yards" during their pre-season stint in Abu Dhabi will aid Essex's bid for glory back home, adding: "We get 12 to 13 days of fantastic facilities, fantastic practice and we're outside. There's only so much we can do back in Chelmsford and it feels like you can get an advantage by being here. We feel as if we've got a good squad and that we can compete in all three tournaments. We've won some trophies recently but we didn't last year and we hope to get back up there."

Somerset's current England international Tom