Dubai: Sussex captain Michael Yardy believes a strong showing at Friday's Emirates Airline Twenty20 event will give his team the perfect preparation ahead of the upcoming English season.
The England all-rounder, who led the Sharks to the final here last year, is looking forward to seeing Sussex in competitive action, starting with a match with rivals Durham at 10:30am.
Yardy, who led his team to victory in the English Twenty 20 competition in 2009, said: "This is a huge part of our pre-season preparations. Back home now you wouldn't get these sort of facilities with the weather and everything - we're lucky to come out here and it's nice to get some competitive cricket."
"This is a little bit different from outdoors in England and it's nice to be here. It's important for the bowlers particularly because conditions in England at the moment mean you do get really stiff afterwards, but the weather here will help them recover a lot quicker. Getting that opportunity is good," he said,
On the Sussex squad, Yardy added: "We've also got a lot of good young players coming through, but we've got to get that blend between keeping the experienced guys performing and bringing new players in."
Yardy has played 28 One Day Internationals and 14 Twenty20 matches for England, but he left the World Cup squad last year after admitting he was suffering from depression.
The 31-year-old hasn't been involved with the international scene since and is now focusing entirely on his club career.
"I had a very strong end to last season so I'm looking forward to getting started again. It's nice to be back captaining Sussex on a full-time basis," he said.
"For the last few years for whatever reason, with international commitments, it's been difficult to get that continuity - not just for myself but for the team too. So being back full-time is important and hopefully we'll have a good season," he said.
On his prospects of an England return, he said: "You never write off anything, but I think the most important thing for me now is playing for Sussex and doing well and captaining the team to the best of my ability. That's the only focus I've got at the moment."
