SAM DALLING - INTERVIEW: Ahead of Somerset's third successive appearance at T20 Blast Finals Day, a member of their formidable top-order outlines why 2023 can be the year they end 18 years without the trophy
"If you have a three-quarters empty bottle of water and you shake it there's a lot of movement," begins Tom Kohler-Cadmore. "Whereas if you have a three-quarters full bottle of water and shake it, there's not as much movement, not as much shake."
Kohler-Cadmore is not taking The Cricketer through some new-fangled batting approach, but the small ring of plastic he wears on his neck when in the middle.
When he wields willow so much happens, all of it at such speed, that the Q-Collar Kohler-Cadmore has been using since the summer started is easily missed.
Made by Q30, an American company specialising in head injuries and concussions, the theory is that the c-shaped brace increases blood in the brain. That creates a sort of bubble wrap, in turn preventing some of the internal sloshing around on impact.
Kohler-Cadmore first wore it in April. "It was a little weird to start," he says, "but now I'm used to it, I literally don't know it is there."
Kohler-Cadmore sustained a concussion injury in the PSL in 2022 [Arif Ali/Getty Images]
Some experts – despite it having now received FDA clearance - question the Q-Collar's efficacy. But it is increasingly prevalent in NFL, lacrosse, and even football in the USA. Plus, as Kohler-Cadmore points out, it does no harm. "It was a bit of a no-brainer," he explains, no pun intended. "If it might help with an impact, it's worth wearing. It's a bit like wearing a thigh guard - you don't want to get hit there, but just in case you do, you wear one. It's the same with this. If it can help me great but it's not hindering me in any way."
Kohler-Cadmore is cautious after a lengthy struggle with post-concussion syndrome in 2022. During Peshawar Zalmi's Pakistan Super League match against Islamabad United on January 30, he was struck by a bouncer – nearly four months passed before he returned to Blast action for Yorkshire.
"I was quite groggy the whole time," he admits. "For probably three months, I'd be sat at home and would be ok. But then I'd try and do a bit of light exercise and it would flare straight back up. And by 'light exercise' I mean a 10-minute very light session on the bike. It was a very long return to playing process."
Those months were largely spent sleeping on the sofa. TV was a 'no-no' and the most excitement Kohler-Cadmore got came via park trips with his dogs, Pepper and Coco.
His return to professional sport was painstaking. First, he had to get his heart rate to 100 beats per minute for 10 minutes on the bike. The rest of the day was spent tentatively hoping there would be no adverse consequences.
Next, Kohler-Cadmore worked at the same intensity for 20 minutes. Gradually, he moved up to 110bpm, then 120bpm, repeating the process right up to 180bpm. Several times post-exercise symptoms enforced a break.
Eventually, Kohler-Cadmore started hitting balls. Twenty at first, thrown underarm. Then 50. Slowly, slowly. T20 was prioritised, with first-class cricket deemed too much of a risk. It was a good call - after three Blast appearances, Kohler-Cadmore had to miss several games. Fortunately, he soon returned and eventually made a red-ball comeback against Somerset last July.
By then, it had become known he would be Taunton-bound in 2023, a move that happened "very quickly". Naturally, Kohler-Cadmore made a splendid hundred against his soon-to-be employers.
Kohler-Cadmore has started wearing a Q-Collar since the beginning of the season [Harry Trump/Getty Images]
His confidence did not appear shattered, but was that deceptive? "It's obviously not ideal," he says. "But it is part and parcel of sport - you do get injuries and you've got to try and stay on top of them. And you can't worry about them. You've just got to trust that you're ok.
"If it happens again, it happens again. I obviously don't want it to happen again. But if I'm stood worried about the short ball, then that makes my front foot game not as strong, so it shuts that down."
Kohler-Cadmore has, happily, not fallen ill this year. And his ball striking – there are few in the game able to match his power – quickly endeared him to Somerset supporters.
But what tempted him even further south than Worcestershire, whom he left to join Yorkshire in June 2017? "It is all about being yourself here," he explains. "No expectation other than just being myself."
And what does that look like? "I go out there with a smile on my face. I never want to get out, but I have the freedom to express myself and get out on my terms. Before, I used to get out thinking 'I can't play an aggressive shot' and I'd be tentative.
"Now, I've realised it doesn't matter whether you get caught on the fence or get caught at slip, you're still out. You might as well get out playing the brand of cricket you want - and hopefully that makes you a lot more successful."
Another attraction of Somerset was that Kohler-Cadmore knew many of his now teammates from the franchise circuit, plus head coach Jason Kerr from a Lions tour.
But he had not come across the club's new batting lead Shane Burger: "I was really impressed by how he took his time to get to know each individual and the style they liked to work in, instead of trying to change people's techniques straight away.
Kohler-Cadmore was signed for his game-changing abilities [Harry Trump/Getty Images]
"He points out our strengths but he's not afraid of speaking about our weaknesses. It's not just, 'oh yeah, we've won 12 and we're going to keep going'. We still think about how we can improve – could we have been smarter in game situations? Is there something technical we can improve? Is there a new zone we can add to our game? Adding little options rounds us off even more, makes us even more dangerous.”
Kohler-Cadmore is focusing on "consistency of ball striking" with Burger but admits "the biggest thing he does for me is tells me to keep going, especially in red-ball cricket".
"There were a couple of early dismissals where I played defensive prods and got nicks. I was frustrated with them. He was frustrated as well – he told me, 'No, keep being aggressive. Don't worry about the game situation, keep taking the positive option, keep taking the game on'. Because then I get into better positions. It's that sort of stuff that goes under the radar, but it makes a big difference."
Here the conversation gets very interesting: Kohler-Cadmore makes no attempt to hide his style. He was signed to bolster what many perceived to be a fragile red-ball batting lineup, but his role is as much about making game-changing contributions as it is about scoring big runs. And sometimes those two things are not one and the same.
In April, during a draw with Lancashire at Taunton, Somerset slipped to 24 for 3. They recovered to 441, with Tom Abell hitting a career-best 151 and James Rew making 117. The pair put on 244 for the fifth wicket.
That though, came after Kohler-Cadmore had made 38 from 40 balls before being caught on the boundary. Some criticised his dismissal, but Abell heaped praise on what he deemed a momentum-shifting hand: "It's about having freedom," Kohler-Cadmore explains. "No matter when you get out, no matter how many you get, you're always frustrated. The only time you're not frustrated is when you've walked off not out, and you've won the game. I’m a lot less frustrated getting out on my terms than when I come off like, 'oh, why haven't you done that, why haven't you tried to be positive'."
Kohler-Cadmore's first Somerset century came the following match against Northamptonshire. Having smashed 95 late on day two, rain-delayed his next ball until after lunch the following day. When it came, Kohler-Cadmore danced down the track and smoked a six to reach three figures. The movement was premeditated, the stroke not so much: "I knew that if it was in my zone, I'd hit it as hard as I could – and it was in my zone. But there are plenty of times when I've run down and left or defended. I'm not wildly swinging.
"There was a ball from Sam Cook recently where I came down the wicket and ducked under it. And there was a Saqib Mahmood dismissal that was in my slot – it just nipped back. There's nothing to say that if I'd stood still, it wouldn't have nipped back and got me lbw. And everyone would have then gone, 'that's a decent ball, fair play he was trying to defend it'."
He's done a fine job of filling the spot vacated by Rilee Rossouw [Harry Trump/Getty Images]
The Mahmood dismissal is a fascinating one. Post-Northants, Kohler-Cadmore told journalists that his repertoire may have people "tearing their hair out".
And at Old Trafford, with James Anderson and Will Williams purring, Somerset were 12 for 3. Kohler-Cadmore countered, making a brisk 20 before a swing and a miss saw Mahmood take his leg stump. More supporter ire came, but as he points out: "We were 10 for 3 anyway, with guys who are all trying to play defensively. There's no difference - I had a failure but everyone else in that three failed as well.
"Yes, my shot looks a bit worse but at the end of the day, we were all out. And no one in the changing room went, 'oh, what are you doing'. I've got clarity, a role in the team and the team is fully supportive. That's great and I think that's a strong thing about our team as well – everyone has their plans, and everyone is an individual.
"Me and say, James Rew or Abes [Tom Abell] are going to bat completely differently and that's fine. Abes hasn't got to try and be me and I've not got to try and be him.
"We're all in it to win the game, and we back each individual to go about it the right way, to make the right decisions for them and for the team.
"No one has said, 'oh god, that was awful'. I'm sure they've probably thought it but they'd rather I was that side of aggressive than scratching around.
"I think I'm at my best when I'm putting pressure on the bowlers. Obviously, if you look to play on that line, you're going to get it wrong occasionally and then it does look bad. And that'll frustrate people. But if I hit it for six everyone thinks, 'great, he's counterattacking, what an innings'.
"Everyone loved it the week before when I was smashing it everywhere – but when you get it wrong you get more criticism."
Along with Will Smeed and Tom Banton, he forms a devastating top three [Harry Trump/Steve Bardens/Getty Images]
In the Blast, Kohler-Cadmore has become the third part of county cricket's most destructive triptych: he, Will Smeed and Tom Banton have, ahead of Finals Day, combined for 1,374 runs at a strike rate of 166. Such has been Kohler-Cadmore's impact (459 runs, strike rate 168), Rilee Rossouw (623 runs in 2022) has barely been missed.
But the beauty amidst that destruction lies in the points of difference: "I think we complement each other," he says. "It's not like we're all the same kind of style of batter. Bants scoops, has the reverse ramp, he plays all around the wicket. Smeedy is very, very strong on the back foot and hits squarer of the wicket. I'm predominantly down the ground.
"When you've got those three areas working together, the bowlers are constantly having to change where they need to bowl in order to be successful. That then gives us more margin because if they keep chopping and changing then it's hard for them to get it right all the time."
Not that Somerset's success – topping the South Group and becoming the first side to win a dozen group matches – is down to just a few faces.
"The boys are absolutely flying which is great," he says ahead of a semi-final against Surrey. "We've got a team where everyone knows their role. You can look down the list and every single one of our players in the squad has contributed to a win.
"Even the guys who haven't played a game, can come in and contribute straight away if we need them. Everyone has that much confidence in the changing room that if someone doesn't do it, someone else will stand up. It's a great place to be as a unit."
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