Tom Kohler-Cadmore viewed as a future captaincy material by Yorkshire CCC

YORKSHIRE have identified Tom Kohler-Cadmore as a future club captain despite him missing out on the T20 leadership to David Willey.

Kohler-Cadmore and Willey were interviewed for the T20 job after club captain Steve Patterson retired from the format.

The fact that Willey is currently free from England duties and vastly experienced as a T20 player was attractive to the interview panel led by coach Andrew Gale.

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But Kohler-Cadmore, 25, is highly-regarded by Gale and the coaching staff too, and he could be favourite to take over from Patterson when the 36-year-old pace bowler calls it a day.

Patterson has one year left on his current contract but remains a key member of the County Championship team with the ability to continue playing beyond that point.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “Although Tom hasn’t got the T20 captaincy, he is certainly someone that we see as a potential future captain of Yorkshire, for sure.

“At this stage, it’s not a bad thing that he can focus on his own game; hopefully this coming season he can really nail it in all formats, and it’s just that consistency now that he needs to try and bring to his game if he wants to play at the higher level.

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“But Patto’s not going to play forever, and we have got one eye on the future as to who is going to captain Yorkshire in the County Championship.

“Obviously, with Dave being involved with things like The Hundred, he’s probably not going to be able to play all the Championship games, so that’s not really an option at the minute.

“Tom is certainly someone who is very high on our list of options going forward.”

Kohler-Cadmore, who led Yorkshire in 10 white-ball games last season, is currently in Australia with the England Lions.

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He was initially only part of the Lions one-day squad but has been retained for the red-ball leg along with Somerset’s Tom Abell as batting cover for Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Keaton Jennings, who will shortly depart for England’s tour to Sri Lanka.

Yorkshire hope that Willey, meanwhile, will benefit from a new lease of life after the disappointment of losing his 50-over World Cup place last summer to Jofra Archer.

Moxon believes that the T20 captaincy, plus the fact that Willey, 29, has a much clearer run at county cricket this year, will bring out the best in him after something of a stop-start Yorkshire career to date.

“Dave is massively looking forward to it and was very keen to take on the (T20) role,” said Moxon.

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“I hope that he can get a full season with us this year because that’s what he’s lacked really; it’s always felt as though he’s been in-and-out of the side for a variety of reasons – obviously with his England commitments up until recently, then IPL and a bit of injury here and there too.

“He’s never had a kind of full run at it; this is the first winter he’s had with us really.

“Unless you’re playing regularly, it’s very difficult to produce your best form, and that’s what I’m hoping this season we’ll see from Dave.

“If he’s playing regularly, then I think we’ll see the best of him because there’s an extremely talented cricketer there.

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“He’s three-dimensional and capable of scoring runs in Championship cricket as well.

“There’s a lot more to come from Dave, without a doubt.”

While Yorkshire contemplate a succession plan in terms of the overall club captaincy, Moxon remains highly impressed with Patterson’s leadership.

Patterson has steered the club through a period of on-field transition after the successful seasons of the mid-2010s, with Yorkshire having now put together/rebuilt a squad that should be capable of winning silverware again in the coming years.

“Steve’s done a fantastic job, to be honest, on and off the field,” said Moxon.

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“He’s got a good cricket brain, he’s managed the players really well, and that’s been a big aspect of his captaincy – the way he’s managed the players in the dressing room, his open and honest method if you like.

“He has a really clear idea of what he wants and he’s shown a good tactical nous as well.

“He’s been very impressive.”

Commenting on the player’s decision to step aside as T20 captain, Moxon said: “Part of Steve’s decision is with the future in mind and wanting to focus on the Championship and possibly 50-over cricket as well. His main priority is captaining hopefully a Championship-winning team going forward.”

On the club’s T20 ambitions, Moxon added: “We are wanting to improve on last year’s results in particular. We had some good spells, but we didn’t perform well enough in the crucial moments.

“To tie games and lose games by one run and so on – it could have been a different season.

“But, ultimately, that’s the difference – you’ve got to win those key moments.”