By Graham Hardcastle
Tom Kohler-Cadmore is hoping success with Yorkshire in the forthcoming Abu Dhabi T20 can boost his own profile as he aims to break into more of the global domestic leagues.
Kohler-Cadmore, the powerful opener, is one of the brightest batting prospects in English cricket at present.
The 24-year-old broke into the England Lions one-day team in June on the back of some excellent 50-over form for the White Rose county.
Last winter, he played in both the T10 League in Sharjah and, very briefly, in the Pakistan Super League for Quetta Gladiators.
Both times he signed on the recommendation of Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was an overseas signing for Yorkshire in the 2017 Vitality Blast.
Having had a taste of the globe-trotting T20 lifestyle, Kohler-Cadmore wants more of it, and he wants to use this six-team event as a shop window.
Yorkshire have been placed in Group A alongside Australian Big Bash finalists from earlier this year Hobart Hurricanes and Pakistan Super League side Lahore Qalandars.
Their first match is against Lahore a week on Thursday.
Kohler-Cadmore said: “If you’ve got other teams from around the world who get to see you if you play well, it puts your name in the hat.
“For me, it’s a massive thing to get my name out there and improve and play in different conditions.
“It’s great to be playing in Abu Dhabi to learn about the Asian style pitches there and, hopefully, impress some of the foreign coaches.”
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tomkcadmore</a> ???? “It’s going to be a really exciting learning experience for us.”<br><br>The club depart for the <a href="https://twitter.com/AbuDhabiCricket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">AbuDhabiCricket T20 tournament on Monday morning.#YourYorkshire pic.twitter.com/CcnKe7S5f3— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) September 26, 2018
Yorkshire did not qualify for the quarter-finals of this summer’s Vitality Blast, but they will be a dangerous outfit packed with some star names such as Gary Ballance, Tim Bresnan and Adam Lyth and young guns Harry Brook and Ben Coad.
“For us it’s a really exciting prospect, to be able to test ourselves against the different nations and their teams,” said Kohler-Cadmore.
“It will be interesting to see what they’re like compared to the standard of cricket in England.
“It will be different conditions as well, so it will be a really good learning experience for all of us and a good competition.
“We’re coming off the back of the end of the season, and we’re playing some good cricket right now. We feel like we can go out there and win it.
“There’s going to be players coming into their season and us at the end of ours.
“But for us, I think that’s a bit of an advantage because we’ve played all our T20 games not so long ago. We still have that fresh in the mind and can learn from what we did in our own season and bring it into our tournament.
“We can use that to our advantage compared to other teams who might just be a bit rusty.
“It would be massive for us to win it.
“It’s always nice to have some silverware, and hopefully we can leave Abu Dhabi having finished the season on a high after staying up (in the County Championship) as well.
“Every side out there will be a good side.
“In T20 it’s about whoever performs best on the day.
“In our side we’ve got plenty of match-winners and will be hoping to outdo them on each day.”
