Harry Brook, Joe Root set to play domestic cricket ahead of New Zealand Test series

England white-ball captain Brook has been heavily involved in international cricket over the last few months, leading in the T20 World Cup following the Ashes in Australia.

The 27-year-old will play Yorkshire's red-ball fixtures against Warwickshire (8 May) and Surrey (15 May) before linking up with England for the home Test season.

England's leading run-scorer in Tests Root has not played a competitive match since the ODI tour to Sri Lanka in late January.

The 35-year-old will play three County Championship matches before the first Test, against Sussex (24 April), Somerset (1 May ) and Surrey.

England Test skipper Ben Stokes challenged local cricketers to put themselves in the mix for international selection as the domestic county season kicked off on Friday.

"It's a great opportunity for a lot of people around the country," Stokes said. "The talent that we have in England is just unquestionable.

"The pool of players, the talent that we have, it's probably as good as it's been in a very long time.

"The first six or seven weeks of Championship cricket, it's going to be a very big one and people should use that as an opportunity to push their case as far forward as they possibly can.

"I hope they're giving themselves the best chance of coming up for selection when we get together to do that."

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