Joe Root is relishing the prospect of starting a bumper summer for English cricket in a Yorkshire shirt.

The England Test captain is available for the opening two Specsavers County Championship matches, away at Notts and Hampshire, from next Friday.

He could then play the odd Royal London one-day Cup match ahead of the one-day series against Pakistan, the World Cup and the Ashes, all of which see fixtures at Emerald Headingley.

Root, 28, was speaking at Yorkshire’s pre-season media day after a winter of cricket in Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Australia.

“It’s great to get the opportunity to come and play for Yorkshire,” he said.

“The ground’s looking great. I’ve not seen the new stand for a long time now.

“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 played a handful of fixtures in 2014 and 2015 when Yorkshire won back-to-back Championship titles and is confident the county can be celebrating silverware again come September.

He said: “You look at the talent and the ability in the dressing room, and it’s all there.

“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.”

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