Former Proteas all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe is determined to impress at the T10 League in the United Arab Emirates.

The dual international, who also played T20I cricket for the Netherlands, will represent the Maratha Arabians in the UAE.

‘It’s an exciting tournament and there are multiple matches each day. There’s an unbelievable vibe about the games, the crowds love it and the matches are sold out every time. There are a lot of sixes and a lovely atmosphere at the games,’ he told Somerset’s official website.

‘This year it has been expanded and there will be eight teams taking part with each team playing three matches per day. Each match lasts 90 minutes, so it’s pretty quickfire stuff.

‘It was an unbelievable tournament last year.’

The tournament will coincide with the Mzansi Super League, but each innings is obviously half as long as those witnessed in South Africa’s inaugural tournament.

‘The powerplays are three overs, each bowler has two overs and there are a lot of runs in a short period of time,’ added Van der Merwe.

‘As a bowler, you have just 12 balls to bowl. You basically go straight into a death phase with still 10 wickets to take, so it’s quite tough and the wickets are pretty good at Sharjah.

‘It was interesting last year. The scores started off pretty low and then just shot through the roof up to 140 or 150. It will be interesting to see what the second edition of the tournament brings in terms of scores.

‘T10 is basically like the last four overs of a T20 match for the whole game. It’s pretty exciting stuff.’