Joe Root is relishing the prospect of facing in-form England team-mate Graham Onions when Yorkshire tackle Durham in the LV= County Championship at The Riverside, starting tomorrow.

The 22-year-old batsman plays the first of three four-day Division One matches ahead of next month’s two-Test match series against New Zealand and is hoping to make a significant contribution to a first White Rose win of the campaign.

To do that, however, Root will have to get the better of a new-ball bowler who has taken 125 wickets in his last 25 Championship matches dating back to the start of the 2011 season when he returned from a career-threatening back injury.

In that time, Onions has taken nine wickets in an innings once, six wickets four times and five wickets twice. He has also taken eight four-wicket hauls.

“I think you’ve got to (relish the battle),” said Root. “It’s a good indication of where you’re at with your game.

“You want to challenge yourself, and you want to play against the best. He’s been a top performer for the last couple of years, and I’m really looking forward to representing Yorkshire in the Championship again.

“I got on really well with him, so it will be good to play against each other again. He’s very aggressive, and I’d like to think he’ll be even more aggressive against me.”

Despite playing his first four Test matches in England’s middle order, Root will open the batting for Yorkshire.

There was a clamour for him to open for England too ahead of the New Zealand series last month, but Nick Compton scored successive hundreds to end that debate for now.

Root is happy to bat in whichever position he is told to, reasoning that to be successful at the top level, you have to be versatile.

“If I want to play for England, then I’m going to have to learn the different roles, otherwise I’m not going to get picked,” he added.

“It’s all just part of growing as a player, and it’s going to help me in the long run anyway. The key is making sure you can play the situation.

"If I can learn to do that, then regardless of whether I open or not, it shouldn’t really matter.”