We're not on a jolly, we're here to win: Kohler-Cadmore ready for inaugural Abu Dhabi T20 with Yorkshire

While the rest of the sides taking part in the inaugural event are not long into their respective seasons back home, Yorkshire enter after a trying six-month county term. Tom Kohler-Cadmore is not worried, though

^{Yorkshire Vikings batsman Tom Kohler-Cadmore}

The timing of the Abu Dhabi T20 will play into Yorkshire Vikings’ hands despite the competition coming at the end of a long and trying season, according to Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

The Vikings begin their campaign in the mini-tournament at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Thursday with a match against Lahore Qalandars, while a second group-stage outing follows against Hobart Hurricanes on Saturday.

While the rest of the sides taking part in the inaugural event are not long into their respective seasons back home, Yorkshire enter after a trying six-month county term.

Kohler-Cadmore is not worried, though, telling The Cricketer: “In my opinion we’ll have an advantage on other sides because they are more in pre-season mode whereas we’ve been playing.

“It will be interesting to see how it all pans out between teams at different stages of their season.”

Yorkshire Vikings are taking part in the Abu Dhabi T20

For the Vikings, preserving players’ intensity for the big occasion has been the key as their domestic season reaches into October.

Yorkshire arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday, with the players allowed Tuesday off to play golf, sightsee and generally put their feet up ahead of what could be a series of three matches in little more than 48 hours.

“The lads have come off the back of a busy season so we’re quite relaxed but we’re really looking forward to playing. There’s a trophy up for grabs,” Kohler-Cadmore said.

“We’ve been playing all season so we’re still in the season and we feel, because we’ve played so much cricket, that the best was for us to go about winning this competition is to be nice and relaxed.

ABU DHABI T20: Squads, fixtures and latest news from the tournament

“When we’re playing we want to be full-on with high energy levels and once we’re in our downtime we want to relax because we’ve trained all summer long.

“Obviously tiredness will be a factor, especially with the bowlers. They’ve bowled a lot of overs and some of them have come off the back of six Championship matches.

“That’s where we’ve been smart with the training, looking at workloads. In the games it’s four overs and it’s about making sure that for those four overs your skills are there and you are ready.”

While Yorkshire have taken a strong squad to the Middle East, other sides - hamstrung by players’ international commitments or, in the case of franchises, commitments to regional teams - are taking less experienced parties out to the tournament.

Regardless, the Vikings see their participation in the event as important for the club’s image around the world.

Kohler-Cadmore says Yorkshire are not in Abu Dhabi on a jolly

“From a Yorkshire point of view it’s really good for the brand of the club to be playing in this competition,” Kohler-Cadmore said.

“To grow Yorkshire as a brand is a big thing and that’s what the players want to do - if you’re winning matches, you’re winning trophies, you’re increasing the brand in England. Here, we have an opportunity to increase it around the world with this tournament.

“That’s why I think the club were really interested in it, because they see it as a way to increase Yorkshire as a brand.

“From a player’s point of view, we’ve got the strongest squad we possibly can have out here. We’re missing the international lads in the ODI setup and there have been a couple of injuries as well but the ones who are here make the strongest squad available.

“We’ve come here to win and that’s the whole point of the trip.

“We’re not here on a jolly, we’ve come here to take the cricket seriously and win.”