Joe Root is set to make his first red-ball appearance for Yorkshire in almost two years as he prepares to line up against Gloucestershire this week in the second round of the County Championship.
Root, whose only domestic cricket last year came in the Hundred for Trent Rockets following the Ashes, was announced in Yorkshire’s 13-man squad for the trip to Bristol. After missing the opening fixture against Leicestershire following the two-month tour of India, Root will play the next four rounds, followed by a trip away to Northamptonshire for the seventh round which begins on May 24. The 33-year-old last played first-class cricket for his home county in May 2022 against Warwickshire, a month after stepping down as Test captain, before playing three times in the T20 Blast up to June.
It is a further boost to Yorkshire’s promotion hopes after they welcomed back Harry Brook for the first of his five-game stint last week. Brook, who had not played since England’s white-ball tour of the West Indies in December after withdrawing from the India series following the death of his grandmother Pauline, returned to action with a crisp unbeaten 100 off just 69 deliveries. Brook’s last fixture will be against Glamorgan at home, starting May 3, before taking a break ahead of England’s T20 series against Pakistan that leads into the T20 World Cup.
Following an indifferent tour of the subcontinent, during which he scored 320 runs at 35.55, with just one century coming in the fourth Test as India triumphed 4-1, Root will use the next month to tune up ahead of a bumper six months. England welcome West Indies and Sri Lanka for three-Test series this season, the first of which begins at Lord’s on July 10. They then travel to Pakistan and New Zealand before the end of the year.
Yorkshire will hope to make the most of the availability of both their stars as they look to return to Division One, having suffered relegation in 2022. They were hamstrung last summer by a 48-point deduction that decimated any hopes of an immediate return but are considered favourites to re-emerge from Division Two this time around.
