Joe Root has revealed a determination to relax as he aims to make his mark as an opener in Yorkshire’s first team.

Having batted at number three in the opening LV= County Championship match against Worcestershire, the ex-England under-19s right-hander faced the new ball in the most recent defeat against Durham.

The 20-year-old was given the nod ahead of Joe Sayers, and recorded encouraging scores of 45 and 38.

He spent the winter at Darren Lehmann’s Cricket Academy in Adelaide, and it was the White Rose legend who advised him how best to tackle first-class cricket.

Ahead of today’s four-day clash with champions Nottinghamshire at Headingley, he explained: “A lot of the things that Darren said were about trying to free up your game.

“If you can trust your instincts, it’s good to have that mindset. Sometimes you can tighten up a bit, but the best thing is to relax, calm down and concentrate on hitting the ball rather than worrying about technical issues.

“In that respect, Darren gave me a lot of good advice that I could take away.”

The Sheffield-born player was not fazed by facing a strong Durham bowling attack including England internationals Graham Onions and Liam Plunkett, and will come up against the likes of ex-New Zealand international Andre Adams today.

“If you want to be successful in Championship cricket, you’ve got to face guys like that, do your best not to get found out, while scoring the kind of runs needed to win games,” he said.

“You’ve got to be confident in the players around you. The good thing about our squad at the minute is everyone’s pretty confident with each other’s, and our own, games.

“We may have a young squad – but, as you’ve seen over the last year or so, we’ve been churning out runs and wickets. We want to continue to do that. Performing against the big players is what’s going to get us trophies.”

Root believes spending the winter down under was “just what I needed to get myself ready to take on this season”.

Other county players of note to attend alongside Root were Durham’s Scott Borthwick and Essex’s Jaik Mickleburgh, while the coaching staff included Lehmann and former Australia spinner Peter Sleep.

Added Root, who played grade cricket at the weekends: “There were also a couple of players on the verge of state cricket involved.

“One of those was Nathan Lyon, the spinner who was really successful in the Twenty20 Big Bash. I think he was leading wicket-taker in the end. I became pretty good mates with him, and it was good to pick his brains.

“I played against guys like Callum Ferguson and Peter George, who have both played for Australia, and it was a really nice way to spend the winter.

“When you’re always playing and improving, you feel as though you’re doing more than other county players are, those who spend their winter in the gym or whatever. In that respect, it’s a nice mental edge.”