Joe Root left frustrated as rain thwarts Yorkshire at Headingley

But Root, who has played only one T20 match for Yorkshire in just over four years, has a relaxed and positive attitude to his T20 ambitions, accepting that England have some outstanding players in that format and that he has to battle to regain his place in their 20-over line-up.

Root, who played the last of his 32 T20 internationals in May last year, is back with Yorkshire pending the announcement of England’s squads for their forthcoming T20 and one-day matches against Australia, which are set to be named shortly.

The England Test captain could make his Yorkshire return in the county’s next T20 game against Derbyshire at Emerald Headingley on Sunday, and he is pragmatic about his hopes of returning to the international T20 stage.

“I want to play as much as I can, and I’m quite realistic about where I am in the shake-up of things,” said Root, after no play was possible against Notts at Headingley.

He added: “I want England to do well. I want us to go to World Cups and win, and if I’m not in the best XI or in the best squad, then so be it.

“I want us to win, and I’ll support whoever’s involved all the way through.”

As a man who has plenty on his plate as Test skipper, and who is closing in on the proud milestones of 100 Test and 150 one-day international appearances, Root has not had the T20 game-time he would have liked.

In many ways he is a victim of his own success, having been rested from T20 matches in which he might otherwise have played.

“I’ve not had many opportunities to advance my claims in T20 in the last couple of years,” he reflected.

“It’s been a little bit frustrating, but it’s no one’s fault; I’m certainly not upset or bitter about it or anything like that.

“It’s just the way it’s fallen. The schedules have been such that that’s when I’ve had breaks from the game, and probably because of it I’ve lost my place within the side and that can happen in cricket.

“It would be nice to get an opportunity to play some T20 games and try and stake a claim and force my way back into that squad, but it’s a very talented team and you look at the strength within it and the players that are in possession – they’re all fantastic players in that format. It’s great to see England in such a strong position.”

Root’s desire to play T20 was highlighted by the fact that last night’s match came just 48 hours after his England team sealed a Test series triumph against Pakistan in Southampton.

Root, who held the slip catch at the Ageas Bowl that gave James Anderson his 600th Test wicket, had been relishing the chance to play for Yorkshire only for heavy rain to force umpires Peter Hartley and Neil Mallender to abandon proceedings at 7.05pm – half-an-hour after the scheduled start.

“It’s disappointing that we couldn’t get out there,” added Root.

“I’d been really looking forward to it, and I love coming back to play for Yorkshire; it’s a real pleasure and a joy and I’m passionate about doing it.

“Hopefully I’ll get another opportunity in the next couple of days or further down the line during the season. They’ve not picked a squad for the Australia T20s as of yet, so I plan to play these games coming up and we’ll see what happens from there.

“Those things are obviously not in my control, so I’m going to prepare to play for Yorkshire. It would be nice to be involved on Sunday, and I’m just trying to take it day by day until we know what the crack is.”

Like all professional cricketers, Root is simply thrilled to be back playing full stop.

He has been pleased with England’s progress in Test cricket this summer – “we’re starting to find our identity, how we want to play” – and he wants to feature as often as he can.

“I’ve been desperate to play as much cricket as I can,” he added. “It didn’t look like we were going to play any cricket at one stage, so I want to make the most of the chances we do get to play.

“It’s been really enjoyable to get the six Tests in; there was some fantastic cricket throughout and some close games.

“We’re all very aware that we’ve got big strides to make still and we’re nowhere near where we want to get to and nowhere near the finished article, but if we continue to keep learning and harness this attitude that we’ve got currently then we’ll give ourselves the best chance to get there in time.”

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James Mitchinson