Joe Root is determined to relax as he aims to make a name for himself in county cricket with Yorkshire.

The 20-year-old batsman has been given the nod at the top of the order in the LV= County Championship side ahead of Joe Sayers.

And Root, formerly of England under-19s, has been told to keep calm at the crease by White Rose legend Darren Lehmann.

The right-hander, who scored 45 and 38 against the new ball in the most recent defeat against Durham, spent his winter at Lehmann’s academy in Adelaide.

Ahead of today’s four-day clash with champions Nottin-ghamshire at Headingley, he said: “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 and concentrate on hitting the ball rather than worrying about technical issues.”

Root faced England duo Graham Onions and Liam Plunkett in the Durham match, while he faced one-time Australian Test pace bowler Peter George in club cricket Down Under.

“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 continued.

“Performing against the big players is what’s going to get us trophies.”

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

Not only was he coached by Lehmann and former Australia spinner Peter Sleep, he was also able to pick the brains of South Australia Twenty20 star Nathan Lyon – and play against Callum Ferguson in the local grade competition.

He added: “When you’re always playing and improving, you feel as though you’re doing more than other county players who spend their winter in the gym. It’s a nice mental edge.”