England captain Joe Root happy to gather momentum

He made his first Tykes appearance of the year – and last facing the red ball before his debut as national captain against South Africa on July 6 – during the draw against Hampshire.

Root failed to get going, though, making just eight in the first innings and then two in the second at Southampton.

England colleague Jonny Bairstow struggled similarly against the likes of South African Kyle Abbott and Scotland’s Brad Wheal, contributing just seven and one.

Having spent the first three months of the year playing one-day internationals and Twenty20 for England in India and the West Indies, Root is now preparing for Yorkshire’s London One Day Cup game against Nottinghamshire on Saturday.

He is also available for Monday’s match with Lancashire and the tie at Worcestershire on Wednesday before returning to England duty the following weekend with two one-day internationals against Ireland.

Asked if it was psychologically harder to play a Championship game when he is still concentrating on the white ball, Root replied: “I certainly wasn’t feeling white ball last week.

“It just didn’t work out for me and Jonny and you have to give the County Championship credit there because you’re playing against very good professionals and you’re coming back into a difficult environment to perform.

“There’s that expectation as an England player to go out, dominate and perform and show why you’re in the position you are but you play against good sides and people in good form.

“You will get found out if you’re not on it and, fair play to Hampshire, they made it very difficult for me and Jonny to get involved and put us under a huge amount of pressure. Thankfully, we had a bit of Ballance in there…”

He, of course, was referring to Gary Ballance, the Yorkshire captain, who made top-class knocks of 108 and an unbeaten 203 to salvage a draw for the county.

Ballance has been out of the Test reckoning since last October but has made a fine start to the Championship season.

Despite his own lacks of runs, Root admitted he thrived being back in White Rose action with Andrew Gale’s side.

He said: “Definitely. It’s a great bunch of blokes. It was obviously a tough week for the side and potentially it might have been better to bat first with the new toss rule but we were fortunate to witness some very high-skilled batting.

“It was a pitch that did offer a bit and if you bowled well you got your rewards. Both (Hampshire’s) James (Vince) and Gary played two fantastic innings – Gary played two and James (147) had a great knock in first.

“It was great for the game to see in the same match two guys really putting their names forward, putting the guys in the (England) shirts under pressure, letting everyone know they’re still there.”

Speaking at his old school, Dore Primary, in Sheffield, where he launched Yorkshire Tea National Cricket Week in conjunction with Chance to Shine, Root was asked if he faced a difference in attitude from colleagues since he was appointed Test captain in February.

“Galey had a little word with me just saying that they would quite like to hold on to Gary Ballance!” he joked.

“In terms of that, the way people have approached me has been exactly the same. Of course there’s been a number of great performances at the start of this year and guys putting their hand up whether for the first time or to say they’re back in form is great.

“The more that happens the more strength in depth that we have. We are a long way off that first Test match which gives guys more opportunities to throw their name in the hat.”

As for his preparations ahead of that opening Test as captain, the 26-year-old added: “Well last week I was trying to score runs for Yorkshire!

“It’s very hard to actually do anything just now. We’re meeting up with Trevor (Bayliss) over the next few days to chat about a few things but until it gets a little bit closer it’s difficult to do too much.

“I don’t want to feel like I’m over-prepared or ready now and then miss out somewhere down the line when it unfolds in front of my eyes. I’d much rather gather momentum into that first Test so everything is fresh in my mind; it’s difficult to gauge the best preparation with such a big time frame to work with.”

Root revealed he had spoken to former Yorkshire and England captain Michael Vaughan for tips on the gargantuan role.

“One thing he said that worked for him is he used to have a metaphorical cap,” explained Root.

“He would take it off when he was fielding, put it on his peg if you like, and put a different one on when he went out to bat so that he felt that was him as a batsman and him as a captain.

“Whether that would work for me I don’t know but he seemed successful.”