Root: Time of year gives Yorkshire a Champions League edge (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Joe Root: Time of year gives Yorkshire a Champions League edge

6:00pm Wednesday 3rd October 2012 in Sport By Graham Hardcastle

Yorkshire have an immediate advantage over their opponents in the Champions League qualifying competition, according to key batsman Joe Root.

He believes that with the White Rose county coming straight out of a season, they should be slightly more prepared than some of the other teams.

“They have just come out of a winter and are only just starting their season,” said 21-year-old Root.

“We’re fresh and ready to go, having had a couple of weeks off. We’ll go out there all guns blazing, which is exactly what you need in Twenty20.

“We’ve got a squad with a lot of lads aged under 23 and that can only work in our favour.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence and we can take that into the competition. If we play to our ability, we’ll surprise a lot of people.

“We’re playing on the highest stage of domestic cricket. I believe if we play to our full ability, we’ll be a very tough side to play against.”

Yorkshire’s 15-man squad arrived in Johannesburg this morning, where they will be based for the next seven days before either travelling home after the qualifiers or heading to Cape Town for a Group B campaign against the big boys.

If they qualify for the main draw with wins over Uva Next and Trinidad & Tobago, two of their matches will be against Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians and MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings.

The competition kicks off a busy two months for Root, who will be crucial to Yorkshire’s chances – especially now that Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out on England orders.

The right-hander will link up with the England squad in Dubai for a training camp at the end of the month before embarking on his maiden Test tour of India, where he is expected to open the batting with new captain Alastair Cook.

“I was delighted to get the call and I’m looking forward to the whole experience,” said Root.

“India are a very good side in their own back yard but hopefully we can go out there as a squad and turn things around.”

The Headingley club have also announced that their shirt sponsors will be Welcome to Yorkshire for the event, rather than usual sponsors Bradford-based car company JCT600.