WHATEVER he achieves in his career, Joe Root will always look back on September 12, 2014 at Trent Bridge as one of his very best memories.

The scene, Trent Bridge. The occasion, Yorkshire’s County Championship title success, which was sealed with an innings victory over Nottinghamshire.

Root captained the side in the absence of regular skipper Andrew Gale, who had been banned from the match by the ECB following an altercation with Lancashire’s Ashwell Prince in the previous round of fixtures.

Root’s appearances that season were sporadic due to England duty, and he only scored 11 in the match.

He returns to Trent Bridge with Yorkshire for their Specsavers County Championship opener against Notts, starting tomorrow.

The good memories of Nottingham extend beyond that fixture as well.

He has won two Ashes Tests there in 2013 and 2015 and played a one-day game for Yorkshire against younger brother Billy in early 2017.

“It is a ground I’ve always enjoyed going to and playing at, both for Yorkshire and England,” he confirmed. “It holds a lot of fond memories for me personally.

“But one of my highlights was winning that game and Championship down there.

“Just being a part of that was something really special. It will always be a very special memory.

“It was a brilliant season by the whole squad, and I chipped in here and there. To get the opportunity to captain that last game and go on and win it was fantastic.”

Throughout the winter, there has been a lot spoken about Yorkshire’s young squad and the ongoing period of transition.

Coach Andrew Gale said in October: “In two or three years’ time, I think we will be challenging strongly.

“In the meantime, we have to back them (young players). There will be days when they’re inconsistent.

“We want to win Championships every year, but we have to be realistic and manage expectations. In a few years, I believe these lads will be the real deal.”

Root, however, said: “There’s some fantastic players at this club. We’ve made some good new signings, and there’s some guys that have been around for a while and know what is expected of them.

“There’s no reason why we can’t be in contention for all three trophies.”

Root will play in the first two Championship matches at Notts and then at Hampshire next week and potentially the odd Royal London one-day Cup match ahead of England’s international summer.

That starts with an ODI series against Pakistan next month followed by a home one-day World Cup and an Ashes series.

The England Test captain added: “You turn up to every summer, and this is an extremely exciting time of the year.

“But with it being a home World Cup year and the Ashes at the end of the summer as well, you don’t get opportunities like that very often in your career.

“We’re fortunate that we’ve played some good cricket coming into it, and would be really nice to start well and take it forward and do something which is remembered for a long time.”

Notts finished sixth in Division One last summer, narrowly avoiding relegation.

They have recruited a number of homegrown players such as Ben Slater, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke and Zak Chappell since last August, although Australian overseas fast bowler James Pattinson won’t be available this weekend.