TOM Kohler-Cadmore has signed a three-year contract extension to keep him at Yorkshire until at least the end of 2023.

The England Lions batsman was the county’s leading run-scorer across all competitions last season, posting 1,729 runs at an average of 48.02 with three hundreds.

Kohler-Cadmore, awarded his county cap at the start of 2019, played age-group cricket for Yorkshire before moving to Worcestershire.

He returned to Emerald Headingley midway through the 2017 summer, and director of cricket Martyn Moxon believes he is the type of player Yorkshire should be building their team around.

It has been a big week for the popular 25-year-old, who was recalled by the Lions on Monday. He will tour Australia for five one-day matches against a Cricket Australia XI and a New South Wales XI in early February.

“I’m delighted,” said Kohler-Cadmore of his new contract.

“When the club asked me how long, I said, ‘The longer the better’. I love playing here. For me, it was a no brainier.

“It’s nice to see progression with the lads, and I think we’ve got some good years to come.

“Last year, the side finished fifth in the Championship and T20 and sixth in the one-day Cup. It isn’t what you look for, but we could have won the Championship with three games left.

“In the previous couple of years, we’ve finished fourth but could have easily been relegated with three games left. Last year, I felt we were unlucky where we finished, whereas the other two years I felt we were lucky.

“How the team is going forward is exciting. That’s why I signed a long deal because everything at the club seems to be going in the right direction.”

Kohler-Cadmore scored 828 runs from 14 matches in the Specsavers County Championship last season, double his tally of the previous summer.

But his drive to improve his own performances and team results is clear to see.

“When you’re playing, you always want more runs,” he said. “Even if you have a year where you’ve got the most runs in the country, you’d still want more.

“I look back on last year and would like to have been a bit more consistent in the red ball with a couple more match-winning scores in there.

“I was quite happy with my level of consistency in getting starts, but I didn’t go on as much as I’d have liked. Hopefully next year I can keep the consistent starts but go on more.

“With the white ball stuff, it’s about making sure I win games with the bat or in the field and try to contribute as much as I can.”

Last season saw him lead Yorkshire in 10 limited overs games - nine of which came in the Vitality Blast. That tally would have been more but for rain.

He continued: “Having a taste of captaincy last year was awesome, and I felt it helped my cricket a lot. It made me not think about myself as much and worry about others, which is perfect when you’re looking at getting winning results.

“When you can look at the opposition and try to do something tactically to affect the game, it takes a bit of pressure of your batting and fielding.”

Kohler-Cadmore is the only Yorkshire player who will represent the Lions Down Under early next year. The England management have picked two squads for white ball and red ball matches.

Being selected for the white ball squad represents a comeback for a player who was not considered for Lions selection by the ECB earlier this year as part of a disciplinary procedure.

“It’s a good thing to completely move on from what happened last winter,” he said.

“It’s a nice little ending to that, to put it behind me. I’ve learnt my lessons, and now I can fully focus on my cricket.

“Hopefully the Lions is a stepping stone to kick on for England. If I am getting that recognition, it also must mean I’m doing something right here at Yorkshire and winning games.

“That’s all I want to focus for whoever I’m playing for.

“But it’s about living in the moment and not looking too far ahead.

“You can be next in line (for England), but if you have a terrible season or a terrible time, then you quickly slip down the pecking order.

“It’s about doing your processes and making sure you put performances in week in and week out. That’s not to win an England call-up, it’s to win games of cricket for Yorkshire. That’s the main thing.

“If it ends up that I get a call-up on the back of that, brilliant.”

Moxon said: “Tom’s one of the players who we want to build our team around going forward, so to have him here until at least October 2023 is great news.

“His ability to play in all forms of the game is invaluable. He’s also an excellent fielder - he was fantastic fielding at slip in the Championship this last season - and he’s also had a taste of captaining the T20 side.

“His all-round attributes make him so important to us.

“Tom is getting experience now - he’s a capped player and has been involved with the England Lions. He’s definitely the type of player that we want for the future.

“If we are going to be successful again, Tom’s the calibre of player that we need to have.

“It’s been pleasing to see his development. He’s not the finished article yet, but he’s certainly heading in the right direction.

“That goes with all of our younger players. They are gaining experience all the time.

“We feel they have got potential. It’s just a matter of that potential becoming reality.”