(Photo: Getty Images)
By Graham Hardcastle
Tom Kohler-Cadmore has revealed how a current international captain and an early morning wake-up call played a big part in his involvement in the new T10 League in the UAE.
The exciting Yorkshire batsman is taking part in cricket’s latest innovation, starting on Thursday and to be staged over four days at Sharjah.
Kohler-Cadmore, 23, was named as an injury replacement for West Indian Rovman Powell in the Bengal Tigers squad last month.
They will be captained by Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, who played briefly for Yorkshire in this summer’s T20 Blast.
“I think I was quite close to getting selected first time around because Sarfaraz was keen to have me, but it didn’t work out,” explained the former Worcestershire right-hander.
“But one of their players pulled out, and I got the call.
“It was early morning too – around 7am. That’s really early for me! I saw a missed call from my agent and thought ‘what’s going on here?’ When I found out it was that, I was really happy.
“I’ll be away for seven or eight days, and I can’t wait. It’s going to be interesting to see how it goes.”
Kohler-Cadmore’s White Rose team-mates Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid are also playing in the six-team, 10-over per side event alongside Eoin Morgan, Alex Hales, Luke Wright, Liam Dawson, Ross Whiteley and Chris Jordan.
“Nobody will have played 10-10 unless you’ve had a shortened Twenty20 game for rain,” he continued.“I think it’s going to be a case of just having a couple of balls to look at it and then go and whack it. That’s pretty similar to what I do in T20.
“At the end of the day, I want to play for England. But if you’re getting experience in overseas leagues along the way, that will only help when you get to that higher level. It will be a good learning curve and a good way to put myself in the shop window for other competitions.
“I’ll be there talking to these players who’ve played a lot of international cricket. Darren Sammy is playing for my team, and he’s a ridiculously good finisher of a game. If I can pick up something there, that would be a massive boost.
“Hopefully it will also improve my game against spin, which is something I’m keen to do.”
So, does world cricket need another innovation in the form of 10-over cricket? “The good thing about this kind of tournament is that it gets people who maybe wouldn’t necessarily come watching cricket otherwise,” he added. “Once you get that bug, you will look at other formats and, fingers crossed, ultimately fall in love with Test cricket. That’s what we all want.”
Kohler-Cadmore is also hoping for a late call to play in next year’s Pakistan Super League.
“The first draft has been done, but they have a second draft for replacement players. I’m in that. If I do well in this, you never know,” he said.
