Cricket: England captain Joe Root backing Yorkshire for successful season as he prepares to make rare appearance against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge

Root has been given permission by the England and Wales Cricket Board to feature in Yorkshire’s first two Championship games of the season, away at Nottinghamshire and Hampshire.

At Trent Bridge, tomorrow morning, he will come face-to-face with England teammate Stuart Broad ahead of a big summer of English cricket, featuring a home World Cup and Ashes series against old foes Australia.

And the 28-year-old, who will captain his country in an Ashes Test at Headingley in August, said: “It’s great to get the opportunity to come and play for Yorkshire. It’s a very exciting summer with some great opportunities to play here.

“It will be very busy, but you don’t get chances like this very often. I’m trying to embrace that and enjoy every moment of it. Hopefully, come the end of it, we’ve got something special to look back on.

“It’s been nice to have a couple of weeks break, but I’m ready to get back into things now.”

Root’s appearances for Yorkshire have been few and far between since he established himself on the international scene, but he returned to Headingley last week and was a popular figure with the press at Yorkshire’s annual pre-season media day.

“You look at the talent and the ability in the dressing room, and it’s all there,” he added.

“We have a lot of fine players in every department. It’s just about making sure you fulfil all that potential and make sure you put all that talent and ability into performances.

“I’m very hopeful this year and looking forward to, first of all, getting the chance to play and then watching the guys go out and continue what will hopefully be a good start to the year.”