CRICKET star Daryl Mitchell says his mental strength will help him to conquer the challenge of cycling 360 miles when he sets off on an epic charity challenge tomorrow.

The Worcestershire opener warmed up for the five-day Professional Cricketers’ Association Big Bike Ride 3 by clocking up 66 miles in a four and a half hour training ride around the Midlands and Cotswolds.

The 33-year-old will face an average similar amount of miles each day from Friday to next Tuesday with the third stage ending on Sunday

afternoon at New Road.

All proceeds will be shared between the PCA Benevolent Fund and the Tom Maynard Trust.

Mitchell and his father-in-law Mel Saunders have already surpassed their initial target of raising £2,000.

Mitchell said: “To say I’m looking forward to it would be a lie but when I look back on it when I’m finished, it will be something to be pretty proud of and a great achievement.

“Will it be a big challenge? Probably more mentally than anything but that is probably where my strength lies, probably more mental

than physical at times.

“It will be a shock to the system but I can be quite determined and quite stubborn when I put my mind to something so I’m sure I’ll get through the 360 miles in five days

“I did 66 miles in one go when training but that was with about 4,000 feet of climbing in that as well so it was tough.

“I went from Evesham to Warwick and Stratford and up into the Cotswolds and around Chipping Camden and places like that and through Broadway back to Evesham.

“It was very hilly and very tiring. It took me about four-and-half hours. That was the toughest one I’ve done."

Mitchell added: “As chairman of the PCA, I’m a trustee of the Benevolent Fund so it is a cause very close to my heart."

To back Daryl and donate to the causes, visit mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/darylmitchell1

The first two Big Bike Rides in 2013 and 2015 raised more than £320,000.

Big Bike Ride 3 will start at Edgbaston and finish at the SSE SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff where Tom Maynard, who died in tragic circumstances in 2012, played his formative cricket and where the Trust set up in his name is based. It supports aspiring young sports people.

 The PCA Benevolent Fund supports past and present cricketers and their families in times of hardship.