JOE Root has admitted that he thought long and hard before deciding to make himself available for England's upcoming tour of Bangladesh.

"It was a very difficult decision," admitted the 25-year-old vice-captain before committing himself to the two-test series in the sub-continent.

One-day international captain Eoin Morgan and test and one-day opener Alex Hales both opted not to tour because of security fears, and Root confessed: "I took a lot of time to think about it, and you have to respect the decisions of any players who decide not to go.

"I listened to the views of Reg Dickason (ECB security director) and spoke to my family about it before deciding to go."

Root, who has been rested for the initial three one-day internationals in Bangladesh early next month, said: "They are a very strong side and have some very good players and we will need to play well to beat them in their home conditions.

"It is important that countries like England go to Bangladesh, and Test cricket is good at the moment.

"Pakistan are world No 1 in the rankings but all of the top six or seven Test nations are capable of beating each other.

"For example, we beat Sri Lanka at home earlier this summer, and they then went home and comfortably defeated Australia.

"But it is our ambition to get to No 1, and we can definitely take some inspiration from how well Great Britain have done in the Olympics and the Paralympics, and the drive and determination that the British competitors have shown."

One area that England will be hoping to improve on over the winter is their slip fielding.

Root, who was at the Village Hotel in Headingley to launch next month's National Pub Quiz at that chain of hotels, said: "We work hard at it, but it doesn't help when people in the cordon are changing.

"However, when you are winning the mistakes tend to slip under the radar a bit."

The England batsman also endorsed the ECB's city-based T-20 competition, which is likely to start in 2018 or 2019, adding: "I hope that Leeds or Sheffield are one of the teams."

More immediately, Yorkshire need to beat Middlesex at Lord's in a potential title decider that starts today (Tuesday) to stand a chance of winning a third straight Specsavers County Championship Division One title.

However, Yorkshire's defeat by Somerset – they are at home to Nottinghamshire – has brought the south-west county into the equation too, and Root, who is an ambassador for Village Hotels, said: "It is a fantastic finish to the season."

Quiz teams will play for a chance to compete against Joe’s team for £1,000 at the Grand Final.

For more information and to register a team visit VillageHotelClub.com/PubQuiz.