Cricket ace Mark Ramprakash admits he’ll be fighting the nerves in front of a TV audience of millions when he appears in this years series of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.

“It’ll be daunting,” he admitted. “I don’t mind being on TV playing cricket - that’s what I do for a living.

“But appearing on mainstream TV doing something I’ve never done before is a bit scary.

“An agent friend approached me about and at first I said ‘No. It’s not really me.’ But my wife urged me to go for it, so I did.

“Cricket’s been my life for 20 years,” added 36-year-old Ramprakash.

“So, I just thought it’d be nice to do something different - a new challenge.”

So, is Ramprakash hot to trot, when it comes down to the tango, jive and ballroom.

“No,” he said, abruptly. “I can honestly say I’ve never danced before - not unless you count in nightclubs at 2am in the morning.

“And no-one can really believe I’m doing it, because it’s not really in my character.

“But it’s a bit of fun. My teammates have certainly had a laugh or two about it.

“Mind you, they’ve only reacted how I would’ve if it was one of them.

“Darren Gough did it last year and was a real success, and showed what a nice guy he is. Hopefully, I’ll do well. It’ll definitely be worth watching.”

The BBc has finally announced which clebrities will be dancing their feet off in this years ‘Strictly Come dancing’ competition and the list is as follows!

FEMALES
Baby Spice Emma Bunton
ex-Bad Girls star Claire King
EastEnders actress Louisa Lytton
TV presenter Carol Smillie
Singer Mica Paris
comedy actress Jan Ravens
Casualty’s Georgina Bouzova

MALES
Former Manchester United goalie Peter Schmeichel
comedian Jimmy Tarbuck
former England rugby player Matt Dawson
newsreader Nicholas Owen
cricketer Mark Ramprakash
actor Ray Fearon (Nathan in Coronation Street)
Radio 1’s DJ Spoony.

Louisa Lytton, 17, who plays gangster’s daughter Ruby Allen in Eastenders, is the youngest contestant and will partner Italian ballroom dancer Vincent Simone.

Claire King, who found fame in Emmerdale as Kim Tate in Emmerdale, will team up with Love Island ladies’ man Brendan Cole.

The BBC One show returns to Saturday nights next month with presenters Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly.

Daly said: “With a line-up like this, the new series is set to be bigger and better than ever before. Where else could you see a Spice Girl dancing alongside Jimmy Tarbuck?”

In a change to last year’s show, week one will see the boys dancing to stay in the competition while the girls entertain with a group mambo. The format will be reversed in week two.