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New Year Joe's hopes are sky high
WHILE most teenagers will be recovering from the previous night's festivities on New Year's Day, Sheffield starlet Joe Root will be on a plane to New Zealand - hoping to kick-start the most important year of his career with glory in the Under-19 World Cup.
Root, who will fly out along with Barnsley spinner Azeem Rafiq on January 1, will follow in the footsteps of current England cricketers Luke Wright, Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook by appearing in the tournament.
"It's a great honour playing for England - it's the pinnacle, obviously," Root told The Star.
"Every game you play in, you play to be the best - otherwise you might as well not bother. We're all very confident of victory.
"But at the same time it's important to remember that - with respect - it's just a game of cricket, so it should be enjoyable too."
Root has every reason to enjoy his game at the moment.
Earmarked for the top since he was a youngster, Root made his Yorkshire first-team debut against Essex last season and made 63 - and has since followed that up with the Man of the Series'award on England's recent U-19 tour of Bangladesh.
"I wouldn't have believed all this if you'd told me it'd happen year ago," he added.
"It's always a good opportunity to be able to play abroad, and I'm sure it'll be a nice confidence boost. While a lot of other players will be spending the winter practising in the indoor nets, I'll be outside playing on grass - so that should give me a nice head-start going into the new season.
"I've just had a nice week off relaxing, but I'm looking to train hard over the next few weeks."
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -0 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
