Root growing stronger

Yorkshire youngster Joe Root claims a winter at the Darren Lehmann Academy in Adelaide was time well spent.

The elegant opening batsman, who is set to make his debut in Yorkshire's LV= County Championship opener at Worcestershire tomorrow, has been tipped to make a real impression this season.

And the 20-year-old says he has taken on board some valuable pointers while under the tutelage of former Australia batsman and Yorkshire favourite Lehmann.

"It was fantastic. It was a great experience, a great place to learn and develop your game, get fit, train a lot and get used to a professional routine," Root told ecb.co.uk.

One thing in particular stood out for the Sheffield-born right-hander.

"You've got to be greedy as a batter,” he said. “It's hard cricket over there, not necessarily the best outfields or pitches. You've got to get stuck in and if you can take that into our season, with the great conditions over here, then I think you'll be successful."

Root was particularly impressive on Yorkshire's recent successful trip to Barbados, where he shone with the bat in a two-day Twenty20 tournament that also involved Warwickshire, Essex, Derbyshire, Hampshire and a Barbados XI.

"You try and put into practice what you've done over the winter," he added. "I'm always working and trying to improve and to see something come off is brilliant.

"I feel in good shape and I'm just ready to get stuck into some cricket."

Refreshingly, Root, who represented England in the International Cricket Council Under-19 Cricket World Cup, takes comparisons with former England and Yorkshire captain Michael Vaughan in his stride.

"It's always a nice a feeling," Root said. "I've think I've got miles to go to what he's done, and he's obviously a very good cricketer, but just to get compared to him is a massive boost to my confidence."

Despite his inclusion in Yorkshire's squad for the opening game of the 2011 season, Root he is not putting any pressure on himself this summer.

"I'm not really thinking about it to be honest," he said. "I just want to concentrate on getting myself in good shape and, if I do get selected, make sure I'm in the best possible position to be successful and for Yorkshire to be successful.”

Perhaps importantly, there are no set targets for the summer as a whole.

He added: “I just want to do as well as I can, score as many runs as I can, be involved in as much cricket as I can and be as good as I can."

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