/images/quoteimage/joe-root-fb-401327.jpg

When I'm waiting to bat I try to watch the game and make sure I know what is going on so I am ready when I get out there but I spend a lot of time hydrating. It is very important for your performance and concentration. If it is cold I might have a coffee but mainly I am trying to stay really hydrated.

Joe Root

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401327.jpg

When I'm waiting to bat I try to watch the game and make sure I know what is going on so I am ready when I get out there but I spend a lot of time hydrating. It is very important for your performance and concentration. If it is cold I might have a coffee but mainly I am trying to stay really hydrated.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401328.jpg

Bowling at Steve Smith in his form is difficult and you have to make sure you take all your chances.

Chance Your You

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401329.jpg

I've always wanted to play Test cricket from a young age and that's what you dream about. But you have to make sure you can contribute regardless of the format.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401330.jpg

I want England to do well. I want us to go to World Cups and win. If I'm not in the best eleven or the best squad, so be it. I'll support whoever's involved all the way through.

World Cups World Cup World

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401331.jpg

You have to enjoy winning and being part of a successful team, just being a young bloke. But at the same time you want to be back page and not front page news and be spoken about for your cricket and contributing to winning rather than getting it wrong on a night out.

Time Success Art

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401332.jpg

I still like to think I have a pretty good laugh with the other guys in the dressing room and still enjoy a beer and the odd night out.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401333.jpg

That's the food chain that cricket is sometimes. You have to be at the top of it otherwise you get swept away and eaten up.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401334.jpg

I remember getting hit in the ribs when I was on about eight or nine in my first game, and everyone rushed over, quite concerned. The umpire said to me afterwards, 'If anyone had appealed I would have had to give you out LB!' I ended that innings about nine not out off about 15 overs. I was already digging in - Yorkshire style.

War You Yorkshire

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401335.jpg

I am slightly better at sleeping now during Test matches. I have a diary and I write things down, which helps. I write about decisions, a lot about opposition and stuff I want to say to the team so I am clear on the message I want to give.

Age Write Which

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401336.jpg

I just want to represent England whether it is in the middle, at the top or wherever. If it means opener then great but I'm not too fussed about it. I just want to be in the side.

Great Whether Wherever

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401337.jpg

As a batter you are generally playing a mental game most of the time and having too long to prepare can work against you - you can almost fry yourself out before a Test match or feel slightly fatigued two games in because you have spent too long preparing.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401338.jpg

We should be looking to inspire every living person in this country to play the game of cricket.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401339.jpg

From the age of six I used to watch every England team and when I was messing around in the backyard I would pretend to be whoever was scoring runs at the time, whether they were a right or left-hander. I just wanted to be them and do that.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401340.jpg

I'm not a massive reader, to be honest. I try and fill my time with other things. But I remember getting halfway through a book once. It was 'The Client' by John Grisham, which was quite interesting.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401341.jpg

I'd love to go and visit Pakistan. It would be a great opportunity to go and play there personally. Unfortunately, it's not my decision to make, but it looks a wonderful country to go and play cricket in.

Love Great Would

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401342.jpg

In white-ball cricket the conditions do vary, but throughout Tests it varies a lot more in a five-day game, and home advantage becomes more prevalent in Test cricket.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401343.jpg

When you go to Australia you are always asked whether you can perform in hostile environments against high pace and every Australian side I have played against has had guys bowling over 90mph.

Men You Whether

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401344.jpg

You learn from the bad games and the bad tours. And, when things are going well, you think about that and you make the most of it. You don't get lazy; you don't rest on your laurels.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401345.jpg

We've seen guys in the sport, like Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, who have actually benefited from the captaincy.

/images/quoteimage/joe-root-401346.jpg

If you look round the world, most teams want guys who can bowl up at 90 mph because they can make things happen when it isn't doing much.

I don't get too fussy about food around games. It is more just a case of making sure I get some fuel on board. But I quite enjoy poached eggs and toast in the morning so I often go for that before training.

You look at someone like Neil Wagner - he's got a big heart, a big engine, and keeps running. And that's what you want, you want guys who, time and time again, want to be putting themselves in that position, to keep wanting to create chances and keep trying to change the game.

What batsmen like me do for fitness is often a bit different to what bowlers like Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad do but everyone in the squad has a big focus on core strength. It is really important for batting, bowling and fielding. You need a strong core and spine so your movement isn't restricted out there.

You can never really replicate the dressing-room environment and building something as a group of players.

It is motivating seeing how powerful it is when people come together and show support for a fantastic organisation like the NHS. We are very lucky to have it. We should appreciate it and not take it for granted.

A lot of the things we do in Test cricket revolves around planning for the Ashes series down under.

I've been called Ellen DeGeneres on a number of occasions over the course of my career.

Jos has been the most complete white-ball batsman we've had ever. The way he can play a number of different scenarios. He can just demoralise attacks and very quickly swing games massively in your favour.

I've played a lot of cricket at Trent Bridge over the years, and have had a lot of fond memories there.

Something people might not know about me is, I like playing the guitar.

I try not to measure myself against other players.

Teams quickly find trends in ways you get out. If you get out in similar fashion on three or four occasions, teams will be using that as a weapon to get you out.

You can sometimes bowl extremely well and get no reward.

Individually we all have to play to our strengths.

Unfortunately I am a human being and not a robot.

I used to see Michael Vaughan play at the club and then to watch him captain England was inspiring.

There are always different areas in the game you want to develop. For me it's my all-round game in different conditions in different places in the world.

If you're playing against someone, you always want them playing flat out and at their best - so when you are successful you know you've produced a really good performance.

If I was playing for my local club I'd want to play in exactly the same way as if I was playing for England and, if that ever changes, it's probably time to stop.

You have to have a laugh and a joke. If you spend five days playing a Test match and so much time together off the field, it's important to keep morale high.

You want to be busy and try and get the scoreboard moving, and showing that intent when you go out there is important.

As a captain I think tactically I've been quite good.

Whenever you lose, it hurts.

You have to look at areas you want to get better at, both in yourself and as a team.

You turn up to an Ashes series and put everything you can into it.

In terms of pace, every captain wants pace in their attack.

We think it is a really important part of your journey, as an international player, that you come in and you want it to feel like it's the pinnacle of the game. That you want to come back into that environment. You don't want to think, 'Well, I'd much prefer playing for Sussex,' or your county.

We pride ourselves on taking opportunities to win when we have them.

Every time you're involved in an Ashes series, as soon as it finishes at the back of your mind you start thinking about the next one.

I did get the nickname 'craptain' from the Yorkshire dressing room. A bit of banter which I thought was quite funny.