Jacques Rudolph resumes his Yorkshire career today as an overseas player after the necessary paperwork was completed over the last 24 hours. I caught up with him ahead of play to welcome him back to the White Rose county...

Jacques – you’re stood here on the Headingley outfield – is it good to be home?

Yes, it’s unbelievable. I thought I was going to take five or six months off cricket but I suppose I’ve missed this place too much and it’s very nice to be back. I’m extremely passionate about Yorkshire, I think everybody knows that, and hopefully I can make a small difference in our current situation.

Was it your idea to come back or did Martyn Moxon give you a ring?

I think it was a bit of both.  Galey and I have been speaking over the last couple of months and I’ve always considered with him that I might come back towards the end of the season for a couple of months. Fortunately that’s been realised so I’ve got to try and give my best. I’m still a little jet-lagged but I’ll get over that soon.

There was a bit of red tape to clear too. How certain were you that you were going to get to play in the Roses game?

We were basically just waiting for a NOC from Cricket South Africa. They got their dates wrong a little bit. Fortunately that’s all been cleared now.

You come back in for the Club’s 3,000th Championship game, it’s a Roses match and you know how big they are – looking forward to it?

It’s the perfect game to come back in. I’ve got to get used to the conditions again. The Roses games are always massive. I pride myself on trying to do well in them and hopefully Yorkshire can also come out with a win.

It’s great to see you back here.

Thank you very much.

JAMES BUTTLER