Vipers Voices

Send us Fan Mail This time we’ve got a bumper episode for you.   We hear from Tom Moody, the Desert Vipers Director of Cricket, about the franchise’s new players, acquired at the DP World ILT20’s first-ever player auction, which took place in Dubai on Wednesday October the 1st.   Tom runs the rule over the 12 players the Vipers picked up at that auction and, as ever with Tom, his opinions are alwa...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, we get immediate reaction from Desert Vipers CEO Phil Oliver to the inaugural DP World ILT20 auction, that took place in Dubai on Wednesday 1 October. The auction saw the Vipers complete their roster by signing 12 players, and in our chat with Phil he explains the thinking behind the picks made by the franchise. Phil also discusses what went into a successful auct...

Send us Fan Mail Coming up in this episode is part two of our chat with Head Coach James Foster, and this time around we get James’s take on the personnel already retained and signed by the franchise for season four that gets underway at the start of December, as well as his perspective on the upcoming auction, the first in the history of the DP World ILT20.   That auction is set to take place on...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we have the first of a two-part chat with Vipers head coach James Foster.   In part two we get James’s take on the personnel already retained and signed by the franchise for season four, that gets underway at the start of December, as well as his perspective on the upcoming auction, the first in the history of the DP World ILT20.   But this time we find out what J...

Send us Fan Mail This time we wrap up the ILT20 Development Tournament in company with Head Coach Jack Luffman after the Desert Vipers Development Team fell to an agonising four-run loss in the final to the Sharjah Warriors at the ICC Academy on Wednesday evening, the 4th of September.   The Vipers team had fought its way to the final thanks to a superb come-from-behind five-run win against the Ab...

Send us Fan Mail With the ILT20 Development Tournament in full swing, we caught up with fast bowler Khuzaima bin Tanveer and wicketkeeper-batter Tanish Suri (pictured in the thumbnail for this episode), two players who are part of the Desert Vipers squad in that competition.   All six DP World ILT20 franchises have teams in the Development Tournament and with three wins in their five matches in th...

Send us Fan Mail Coming up we hear from wicketkeeper-batter Tanish Suri, all-rounder Ali Naseer and left-arm spinner Nilansh Keswani, with the trio set to feature for the Vipers’ Development team at the ICC Academy.   All six DP World ILT20 franchises have teams in the Development Tournament that is taking place in the last week of August and the first week of September and for all the players inv...

Send us Fan Mail As the summer heat starts to fade in the UAE, it’s time to focus on on-field action again and specifically the ILT20 Development Tournament.   It’s a tournament for UAE players to put themselves in the shop window for the DP World ILT20’s first-ever auction, which is scheduled to take place in late September, and so there is a lot riding on events at the ICC Academy during the las...

Send us Fan Mail We’re back ahead of season four, which gets underway on December the 2nd 2025, an earlier start than the three previous editions, which all took place in January and February.   And in this episode that marks the start of the build-up to the new season, we speak with Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody, a regular on the podcast.   Tom spoke after confirmation that the Vipers have...

Send us Fan Mail This is the final episode for season three and in it we speak with Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody as part of our wrap-up of the campaign. It’s part two of that wrap, following on from our chat with Chief Executive Officer Phil Oliver.   Just like our conversation with Phil, there was a lot to unpack with Tom and we covered a significant range of topics on the playing side.  ...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is part one of a two-part wrap-up of the season. In part two we’ll chat with Director of Cricket Tom Moody, but this time we catch up with Vipers CEO Phil Oliver to paint the big picture for us on where the franchise is at after both an agonising loss in the 2025 final to the Dubai Capitals and also after three seasons of existence.   Topics Phil spoke about included...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we reflect on heartbreak for the Vipers as the side has lost the final of the DP World ILT20 to the Dubai Capitals.   In a thrilling match, the Vipers posted 189 for five after being put into bat and then reduced the Capitals to 31 for three in reply.   But then Rovman Powell with 63, Shai Hope with 43 wrested back control before dasun Shanaka, who made 21 from 10...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we preview the final of the tournament in the company of captain Lockie Ferguson with the Vipers preparing to face the Dubai Capitals at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday night, the 9th of February.   Sadly, the hamstring injury Lockie picked up in Qualifier 1 on March the 5th means he won’t be able to play in the big game but he took time to chat with us e...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we can reflect upon a fantastic win for the team – a seven-wicket success against the Sharjah Warriorz in Qualifier 2 that means the Vipers have booked a place in the final of the tournament, against the Dubai Capitals.   Coming up we hear from Mohammad Amir, one of the stars with the ball against the Warriorz, and also Max Holden, who again produced an excellent i...

Send us Fan Mail This is an episode with a difference. The day after the team’s last-ball defeat to the Dubai Capitals in the Qualifier, two of the coaches, bowling coach Carl Crowe and fielding coach Simon Helmot, meet up with eight players involved with the UAE women’s team for a session at the JA Resort’s dedicated cricket facility in Jebel Ali.   The idea behind the session was three-fold: fol...

Send us Fan Mail This episode comes off the back of a heartbreaking loss to the Dubai Capitals in the Qualifier with the Capitals winning by five wickets off the very last ball to secure a spot in Sunday’s final.   For the Vipers it means that in order to join them they have to do it the hard way, playing against the winners of the eliminator between MI Emirates and Sharjah Warriorz that takes pla...

Send us Fan Mail It’s the end of the league stage of the tournament and the Vipers have finished top of the six-team table with seven wins from 10 matches. But the regular season has ended with a whimper rather than a bang as the team went down to a nine-wicket loss with 17 balls to spare against the Dubai Capitals in Sharjah. Coming up we hear from Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody, who reflec...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we speak with Head Coach James Foster to preview the final league match of the campaign against the Dubai Capitals, in Sharjah on Monday evening, the 3rd of February. The Vipers are already assured of top spot in the six-team league table so it’s a case now of seeing if another victory can be chalked up ahead of the play-offs, which begin just two days later with t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we begin the build-up to the Vipers’ final match of the regular season, a meeting with the Dubai Capitals at the Sharjah Stadium on Monday the 3rd of February – and we do that in the company of left-arm fast bowler Luke Wood.  Luke has been absent from the side for the past five matches – and coming up he explains why. He also chats about his catching and how he re...

Send us Fan Mail It’s happy days for the Vipers as not only have the team returned to winning ways with a five-wicket win over the Gulf Giants in Dubai, but in doing so they’ve confirmed their spot in the top two of the league stage and so guaranteed they have two chances to qualify for the final. The team impressed with the ball against the 2023 champions but it took a classy debut innings of 70...

Send us Fan Mail This time we’re looking back on a night to forget for the Vipers as the side slipped to a 154-run defeat at the hands of MI Emirates in Abu Dhabi. It was the second-heaviest loss in the history of the tournament, eclipsed only by the Vipers’ 157-run loss to the same opponents in Sharjah in 2023. The crumb of comfort is that after that previous loss, the Vipers reached the final. L...

Send us Fan Mail We’re reflecting on a sixth win in seven matches for the Vipers as the side secured back-to-back wins against the Sharjah Warriorz. After a ten-wicket win in Dubai, this time it was an eight wicket win with 31 balls to spare. We hear from Sam Curran, standing in as captain for Lockie Ferguson, who scored an unbeaten 54 in only 34 balls, and also Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, the UAE fast...

Send us Fan Mail This is a special episode because we’re joined by head coach James Foster to celebrate the inclusion of two Vipers players – batter Sherfane Rutherford and spin-bowling all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga – in the ICC Men’s One-Day International Team of the Year. It’s a huge achievement by both players and a source of pride for the Vipers as both men have been part of the franchise sinc...

Send us Fan Mail This is an episode with a difference as we hear from Hanish Bhatt, the owner of PALMFIT, the company that produces the Vipers’ clothing. That might sound like a very dry topic but it’s anything but as Hanish’s company makes the kit used by the players and staff from recycled material, in keeping with the Vipers’ quest to be one of the most sustainable sports teams in the world. It...

Send us Fan Mail This time we’re looking back on history as the Vipers secured the first-ever 10-wicket win in the history of the tournament, beating the Sharjah Warriorz at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday night. We hear from opening batter Fakhar Zaman, who blitzed an unbeaten 71 in the successful chase, Head Coach James Foster and also fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who provides his tho...