JACK Brooks says the confidence of the Yorkshire six in South Africa is sky high as they prepare for a busy England Lions tour.

All have been selected for tomorrow's tour opener – a three-day match against an South African Invitational XI in Johannesburg.

He is joined on tour by Jonny Bairstow, Alex Lees, Adam Lyth, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid, with the main part of the five-week trip consisting of two four-day and five one-day matches against South Africa A.

Brooks, 30, was Yorkshire's leading Championship wicket-taker in 2014 with a career-high haul of 68.

It is his second Lions tour, and his first since early 2012 when he travelled to Bangladesh as a Northamptonshire player.

"I think I'm a completely different person and player from the last tour," he admitted.

"Playing for Northants, a so-called smaller club, I hadn't really made myself known that much on the circuit to the other players, whereas now I come in as an experienced bowler with a couple of good seasons and a medal behind me.

"I have taken a lot of confidence from the last two years at Yorkshire, particularly last season with the number of wickets I took, my performances and the way the team performed in winning a trophy.

"It's not just me, though – a lot of the Yorkshire lads' confidence has gone through the roof.

"We've just got to back our skills and turn what we've been doing for Yorkshire into Lions performances."

By the time it's done, Brooks will have enjoyed a memorable winter.

There have been White Rose title celebrations, seeing his name in England's provisional 30 for the World Cup – "I wasn't ever expecting that," he said – and training with Olympic champion Christine Ohurougu while in South Africa before Christmas with the England Performance Programme squad.

"We were at the High Performance Centre in Potchefstroom, which is perfect for athletes to go and train in decent weather conditions," he explained.

"Christine was staying in the same accommodation, and she ended up hanging out with us for a few meals and came to the cinema once.

"She came to watch us train a few times and took us for some running drills on the track. She was pretty intense, and it was good fun."

So will we see Brooks haring round the third-man boundary more regularly next summer as a result?

"No, but put some hurdles out and I'll be jumping them like Colin Jackson!" he added.

England Lions: Robson, Lyth, Lees, Trott, Vince, Bairstow, Rashid, Plunkett, Wood, Rankin, Brooks.