INTERVIEW
Follow UsSharjah to Rangpur, 3383 km.
Rangpur to Karachi, 2236 km.
Now, imagine making this trip, jumping from Sharjah, representing the Warriors in the International League T20 (ILT20), to playing in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for the Rangpur Riders before flying to Karachi to join Peshawar Zalmi’s camp.
It's already tiring, right? What if I tell you that Tom Kohler-Cadmore did all this in one week, playing four matches across ten days in February of 2023?
That’s how Kohler-Cadmore has been spending his time as a T20 globe-trotter, flying from one country to another.
“I enjoy living out of a suitcase, I absolutely enjoy playing cricket, and really feel privileged to play cricket all year round,” Kohler-Cadmore told Cricket.com from his stint with the Warriors at ILT20.
But unlike many other T20 globetrotters, the Chatham-born cricketer isn’t too fazed about missing his family, though he does miss his furry friend. However, it is a life that the 29-year-old enjoys the most, all because of one thing: cricket. It allows him to be in Dubai one day and Australia the other.
“With franchise cricket, you are here for a month; the next day, you are in a different place with different people. It is a big part of my career, and it is a big part of people’s cricket now, to adapt to change,” Kohler-Cadmore said without thinking about it for a minute.
“One month, you might be in UAE, and the next month, you are in Australia, so you must get used to those conditions. And then, be in South Africa or back in England, where it is cold and miserable, where you must get used to the ball seaming a lot more.”
“It is always about being able to adapt; the more you put yourself out of your comfort zone, the quicker it is for you to adapt and change,” he added.
Kohler-Cadmore has a CV that will make several other cricketers envious. The 29-year-old has already represented 11 sides across all five formats of the sport, First-Class, List A, T20, The Hundred and T10, where he has won back-to-back titles.
“Obviously, the more you play overseas cricket, the more you get nurtured. For me, showing people what I can do helped. Without that, say, I wouldn’t have been at the IPL this year. For me, scoring runs everywhere is very important for me, and that’s for every team I play for,” he said.
Until 2024, the challenge for the Somerset man was limited to looking out for his batting form, but just ahead of the ILT20, he was made Sharjah Warriors’ captain. While several players feel the captaincy is a big challenge, for Kohler-Cadmore, it is all about keeping the dressing room ‘calm and sane’.
“As a captain, if the guys in your team are happy, they normally have the best chance to go out there and perform. Not me personally, but the team has ensured that the morale in the dressing room is good. We have had great facilities at the training and no issues off the field. It is allowing us to go out there and perform,” he insisted.
Change has been the 28-year-old’s only constant, and this rapid transition keeps him on his toes.
“You are constantly learning when you are in a new environment; you learn about yourself, others, and the conditions. Change is really good; it keeps you on your toes and really fresh,” he said on the challenge of change.
“That’s what I felt when I moved a lot around England. Change has always kicked me on further; you have a point to prove, you have to show people what you can do, meet new people and create friendships.”
You could associate that with any phase of your life.
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Mick Kohler-Cadmore is nearly 63 and has been involved in cricket for some time now as a dressing-room attendant. Naturally, the assumption would be that Mick is a cricket traditionalist. But it is where you are as wrong as me.
T10 is a format that Mick loves the most; it is one format that unites the entire family, with Kohler-Cadmore’s mom being its ardent follower. Rightfully, it is a format that has seen the 28-year-old earn his crown as the T10 king, with 789 runs in just two seasons, scoring fours and sixes for fun.
“I think I have just been lucky to have two good tournaments (Abu Dhabi T10) in a row, like I said earlier, it is just going out to see the ball hit the ball for me. It makes it simple for me. Putting bowlers under pressure without having the consequences of failing is one of the benefits of T10,” he said with a beaming smile.
By now, you would have already painted a picture of Kohler-Cadmore’s definition of the sport. If you were confused about why he perceived the sport this way, look no further than his inspirations: Alex Hales, Chris Lynn and Martin Guptill.
There are a lot of commonalities between Hales, Lynn and Guptill; one of them is that they all have opened the innings at one point or the other in their life, and the other is their ability to give the ball a fitting ‘tonk’.
“I have three that I used to watch a lot, that is Alex Hales, Chris Lynn and Martin Guptill. The biggest thing I enjoyed was how still they were and hit the ball a long mile,” the Somerset man spoke of his big cricketing inspirations.
“Halsey (Hales) and Guptill were tall players, so they were quite similar to me. And how Lynn slapped the ball, how still his head was at impact, and his swing was things that I watched a lot and learned. So, watching those three was a learning experience for me,” he added of them.
The 28-year-old didn’t stop there. These names made him think. Would he be thoroughly entertained at the sight of these three with the cricket bat? That’s when it struck him that none would top the entertainer, AB de Villiers.
“But if I have to watch and be entertained, it would be AB de Villiers.”
“I think his (de Villiers) sweep to seamers, where he gets down and hits the ball. For me, it is so far away that someone can think that and execute it as he does easily. From what I have heard, he doesn’t think or train too much, he just does it naturally. That is an amazing skill, and to be able to do that is just amazing,” he said, in awe of the all-time white-ball great.
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December 19, 2023, Dubai.
It is only fitting that one of the biggest days in Kohler-Cadmore’s life came in the Middle East, a place that he has been calling ‘home’ for the past two years. All his hard work over the years, playing in varied conditions, could ideally come to fruition if one of the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams end up raising the paddle for him.
But his name isn’t called. The auction was about to close, and in the dying hours at the Coca-Cola Arena, the 28-year-old’s name sprung up on the big screen. At that point, several franchises had already burnt through their cash, but not Rajasthan Royals, whose opening bid of INR 40 lakhs was enough to seal the deal.
“I was buzzing. I watched the draft (IPL Auction) with a couple of friends. When my name was called up, I was slightly nervous and quiet. I was over the moon when they (Rajasthan Royals) put their paddle up,” he remembered it vividly like it was yesterday.
Kohler-Cadmore started playing cricket in 2014 when he debuted for Worcestershire in the clash against Durham at Chester-le-Street. But his time at the crease has never coincided with Jos Buttler. Not even at The Hundred, for that matter.
After an entire decade of watching Buttler as an opponent or on television, it is in India - the unlikeliest of all destinations - where he will have a crack to bat alongside the English white-ball skipper.
“Obviously, he (Jos Buttler) is one of the most consistent batters in T20 cricket. He is a match-winner, and I would be buzzed to learn a couple of shots from him. Just watching how he goes about training,” he insisted.
“The same with all the other squad members, too. There are a lot of talented guys in the squad, and if I could learn a little bit from everyone, it would help me as a player and round me off.”
After Kohler-Cadmore was picked at the auction, Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin had a rather interesting anecdote. Tom’s dad, Mick, had welcomed Ashwin during the latter’s time at Worcestershire, where he made his County debut.
Ironically, after all those years, it is now Ashwin’s turn to welcome Mick’s son, Tom, at the Royals setup, where he could possibly make his IPL debut.
“I didn’t know that (His dad worked with Ravichandran Ashwin in Ashwin's debut County stint). Yes, sure, I’m just looking forward to getting there (IPL). My dad absolutely loved working with Ashwin as well. He said he is a great guy, and I’m looking forward to working and spending time with him,” he laughed at the query.
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It is no secret that the once-upon-a-time Wisden Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year has his eyes fixed on wearing the Three Lions on his sleeve.
“I really wanna play for England; franchise cricket is the best way to get noticed by the England setup. So, the more you play, the more you perform, the better your chances of playing for England. If you look at all the English players, most of them have played the IPL.”
There aren’t too many better places than the IPL for the 28-year-old to finally leave a long-lasting impression on the England selectors.
“If you look at Liam Livingstone, he kind of played two games, but when he went and played in IPL and did well in franchise cricket, he became an automatic starter. He’s one of the first names on the sheet.
“So, for me, it is kind of, I want to play in every league, kind of to challenge myself against the best in the world. If I can do well and perform, it will kind of help me live my dream of playing for England, something that every young Englishman would want to do.”
Tom Kohler-Cadmore might have been on the road endlessly over the last few years, but the final destination has always been the same: the England national team.
Perhaps, with a good Pakistan Super League (PSL) and IPL showing, he could earn his right to be in the same huddle as his Royals’ teammate and national team skipper, Buttler.
