JOSH Poysden’s commitment to making a success of his Yorkshire career is clear as the county prepares to jet off to play in next week’s inaugural Abu Dhabi T20 competition – he has had to re-arrange a holiday to Mexico as a result.

Poysden recently signed for the White Rose on a long-term deal from Warwickshire.

The leg-spinner, 27, has already made three County Championship appearances, but next weekend will be his first taste of limited overs action as a Viking.

Yorkshire are taking part in a six-team event alongside teams from Afghanistan, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa between Thursday and Saturday and fly to the UAE on Monday.

“When I signed, I was speaking to Martyn Moxon about the tournament, and originally I had a holiday to Mexico booked, which clashed a bit with the trip,” he explained.

“So I’ve had to re-arrange it a bit, which hasn’t gone down too well with my girlfriend!

“But it’s a brilliant opportunity to get away with the lads, which is important for me, and to play some cricket.

“We get back on Sunday afternoon, so I’ll be driving down to Gatwick to fly the next morning.”

Poysden describes the prospect of some early off-season cricket as “exciting” and believes this could be a significant help to Yorkshire’s hopes of winning a maiden Vitality Blast title next summer.

“It’s quite different,” he said. “In times gone by, you’d get to this stage of the year and it’s the end of the season, but now there’s more and more competitions cropping up.

“This one is really exciting.

“It’s the end of a long season, but there’s an opportunity for the boys to go and win a trophy.

“For the club, I read the other day, it’s a great opportunity to put their brand on a global scale, competing against other teams from the Big Bash, Super Smash, all those other competitions.

‘From my point of view, it’s a massive learning opportunity.

“You can test yourself against some quality players with different experiences, and you can pick up things that can be worked on in the winter.

“Hopefully, when we come back next year, we can use those things to our advantage.

“You always try and learn as much as you can.

“The T20 Blast is the only trophy Yorkshire haven’t won, so success in that is vitally important. This competition helps that.”

By his own admission, Poysden’s white ball development is more advanced than his red at present, although admits: “Even though I’m not the youngest player at 27, I think as a leg-spinner you mature quite late.

“So it’s really important for me that I do keep learning in both red and white ball cricket because I want to make an impact in both for Yorkshire.”

The Sussex-born twirler has taken seven wickets in three Championship matches since joining the club, initially on loan.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” he said.

“It’s been a great chance for me to come in and get to know the lads rather than coming in cold in the winter at the start of my deal (three-year contract).

“I came in when we were in a bit of trouble in the relegation fight, but to finish the season as strong as we have done, it’s been great.”

The day before signing permanently for Yorkshire, Poysden played a televised T20 Blast clash for Birmingham against Lancashire, impressing with 1-18 from four overs.

His wicket was Steven Croft, bowled with the perfect leg-break which pitched on leg and hit the top of off and was compared to the ball which Adil Rashid bowled Virat Kohli with in the summer ODIs against India.

“I’d spoken to Martyn on the morning of the game and knew the move was being announced the following day,” he recalled.

“So, with that game on TV, I thought ‘Right, let’s put in a good performance’.

“The timing of that was pretty nice. I think it probably is the best ball I’ve bowled.

“I bowled a good one from around the wicket a couple of years ago in the Championship, and a few this week in the nets at Matt Waite and Harry Brook have been decent.

“But the timing of that being on TV was pretty decent, and it was nice to put in a performance at the end of my Warwickshire career.”

Poysden is expecting to spend the majority of the winter at home, although may travel abroad briefly after Christmas to get some bowling.

Sydney may be top of his list having been there many times before, while his partner is Australian.

Initially, he will relocate from the Midlands to Leeds and get stuck into pre-season training in November.

“I accepted an offer on my house earlier this week, so hopefully that will move smoothly,” he added. “I’m looking forward to the move.”