MCC have departed for their seven-match tour of the USA. The tour starts in California on March 17 before heading east to Florida, culminating in two matches at Central Broward - the new national cricket stadium - against USA and a West Indies XI.

The 16-man squad is captained by Michael Foster, the former Australia Under-19 batsman, and includes Matthew Friedlander, who has played for both Northamptonshire in England and Boland in South Africa, and actor Torquil Deacon.

MCC's first match is against the Southern Californian Cricket Association (SCCA) at Woodley CC in Los Angeles. They play two more games at Woodley - against the South West Region of the SCCA, and the Hollywood All-Stars on March 19 and 20 - before moving on to San Jose to play the North West Region and North West Region Under-19s. They then travel to Cupertino, just outside San Jose, to run a coaching session, before flying east to Miami.

"North America has great cricket history - USA and Canada played the first ever international match back in the 1840s - and we hope it's got a bright future too," said John Stephenson, MCC's head of cricket. "MCC believes the USA is a massive potential growth area for the game and we're delighted to do our part to encourage interest in California and Florida."

MCC teams have been regular visitors to the USA, having toured five times in the past twenty years, most recently in 2004.

MCC, who are currently engaged in a two-week tour of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat, will be using pink balls in all their games on the trip in order to further test the innovation in Middle Eastern conditions.

MCC’s first tour of 2010 includes five 50-over and two Twenty20 games against teams from around the region, as well as a historic match against Durham in Abu Dhabi on March 29. The first three matches will be played at the Zayed International Stadium, and two of the three games will be played under lights.

This year is a landmark for the traditional opener to the English domestic season, with the match not being played at Lord's for the first time. Instead the game, against Durham, will be a four-day day-night fixture with a pink ball, in an attempt to research the feasibility of Test cricket under lights.

Before that game, the team will be travelling to Dubai to play two limited-overs games and provide coaching for local youngsters, before finishing off the tour with two matches against Oman in Muscat.

The squad is managed by MCC’s current Chairman of Cricket, former Sussex captain Mike Griffith, and captained by Keith Dutch, the former Middlesex and Somerset allrounder. The men Dutch will captain have strong links with MCC youth cricket, with nine having been part of either the MCC Young Cricketers or the MCC Universities systems.

There will be several changes to the side for the match against Durham, with Gloucestershire captain and former MCC Young Cricketer Alex Gidman set tp lead a squad that includes Mark Ramprakash, Leicestershire's James Taylor and Middlesex and England Lions paceman Steve Finn.

In a lively fast-bowling pack, Finn will be joined by Gloucestershire's Steve Kirby, and Chris Tremlett, who is trying to resurrect his international career with a move of from current county Hampshire. In addition, Essex wicketkeeper James Foster will play in this fixture for the third year in succession.

It is the first time since 2004 that MCC has toured the region, and as part of their commitment to developing cricket in non-Test playing nations they will be donating $2,500 to be shared between the Abu Dhabi and Oman Cricket Associations, while the ICC will also be making a $1,250 donation.

Keith Dutch, the former Middlesex and Somerset offspinner, will captain a young Marylebone Cricket Club team on its tour of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman starting on February 20.

The team also includes former England A and Gloucestershire player Kadeer Ali on the tour, which is a mixture of 50 over and Twenty20 matches against the UAE and Oman national teams and UAE club teams.

MCC squad: Keith Dutch (Capt.) (Middlesex, Somerset), Tom Allin (Cardiff MCCU), Adnan Akram (Essex), Arfan Akram (Essex), David Balcolmbe (Hampshire), Eddie Ballard (Cambridge MCCU), Gregg Brown (Bath CC), Kadeer Ali (Gloucestershire), Will Gidman (MCC Young Cricketers, Durham), Luke Jarvis (East Bierley CC), Richard King (Loughborough/Northamptonshire), Steve Snell (wk) (Gloucestershire), Jonathon Wightman (Durham MCCU, South Northumberland CC); Tim Robinson (Nottinghamshire & First Class Umpire)

Itinerary: February 20 v Emirates Palace Gentlemen (Twenty20) (Abu Dhabi); February 21 (day/night) v Abu Dhabi XI (50 overs) (Abu Dhabi); February 23 v United Arab Emirates (50 overs) (Abu Dhabi); February 25 v Sharjah XI (50 overs) (Sharjah); February 27 v Fly Emirates (50 overs) (Dubai); February 28 v Oman (Twenty20) (Muscat); March 1 v Oman (50 overs) (Muscat)