Vipers Voices

Send us Fan Mail Coming up we’ve got a terrific chat with the Durham leg-spinner Nathan Sowter, who's been drafted into the Desert Vipers squad for season two. Nathan was one of the leading slow bowlers in shortform cricket in the UK in the 2023 season. He was part of Tom Moody’s Oval Invincibles side, alongside fellow Desert Viper Tom Curran, which won The men’s Hundred, and he was superb in...

Send us Fan Mail This time we hear from one of the Vipers’ outstanding players of season one, and a player who provided perhaps the moment of the tournament, left-handed powerhouse Sherfane Rutherford.   Sherfane scored 247 runs at an incredible strike-rate of 184.32 in season one and in the Qualifier against the Gulf Giants, after tearing his hamstring, he limped back out to the middle and blazed...

Send us Fan Mail This time we go off the field, away from the players, to hear from one of the unsung heroes of the Vipers backroom staff, Strength and Conditioning Coach Darren Veness.   Daz, as he’s universally known, is one of the heartbeats of the Vipers and his role in keeping the players in tip-top physical shape was crucial in the side’s charge to the final in season one of the tournament....

Send us Fan Mail This time we hear from new signing Tymal Mills.   The left-arm fast bowler has replaced Gus Atkinson in the squad for season two, which gets underway on January the 19th, after Gus was selected for England’s Test tour of India.   For Tymal, it’s a return to the Vipers fold as he was a part of the squad in season one, only for his involvement to be cut short when he suffered a recu...

Send us Fan Mail You’ll sometimes hear us say that an episode is a little bit different from the norm but this one really is, as we chat with the father of Bas de Leede, the Dutch all-rounder and one of the Vipers’ new recruits for season two.   It’s no exaggeration to say that Tim de Leede is a Dutch cricketing legend. A batting all-rounder, he played in every match of the Netherlands’ first four...

Send us Fan Mail It's time to catch up with another of the Desert Vipers' new recruits - batter Adam Hose. Vipers Voices spoke with Adam while he was in the UAE for the T10 tournament prior to heading off to Australia to play in the Big Bash League, and in a wide-ranging conversation he explained why he thinks red ball cricket has helped his white ball form, his own motivations and what...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we speak with captain Colin Munro.   With the DP World ILT20 only a month and a half away, it seemed like to perfect time to check in with the man who led the side so well in season one and is someone who, this year, has cemented his place as one of the leading T20 batters of all time by passing 10,000 runs in the format, an incredible achievement. We chatted with...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we join Desert Vipers staff, some of the franchise's UAE-based players and some special guests for a trip into the local community in Dubai. The Desert Vipers put together the Viper Cup, an indoor tournament for eight teams at the U-Pro indoor cricket centre in Al Quoz, an industrial area of Dubai about 15 to 20 minutes drive from the Vipers' home venue d...

Send us Fan Mail This is an episode with a difference as we focus on the Desert Vipers Schools Programme.    The Desert Vipers staff are visiting as many schools as possible within the UAE, and the idea is designed to have multiple upsides. It is, first and foremost, a means to provide an introduction to cricket for children in the country which the franchise – and the tournament – calls home, som...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is the second part of our two-part special with all-rounder Tom Curran.   This time we’re switching our focus from looking back to looking forward as we chat with Tom about his plans, both before and after the upcoming DP World ILT20, which gets underway on January the 19th 2024.   Tom also speaks about the Vipers’ new signings, including the Pakistani trio of Shaheen...

Send us Fan Mail This is a special episode because it’s the first of a two-part interview with all-rounder Tom Curran.   Tom was one of the stars of season one for the Vipers, making telling contributions with bat, ball and in the field and he is back for another crack at the tournament in 2024.   In this first part of our chat we talk about the inaugural ILT20 when the Vipers lost in the final to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we speak with Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody for his reaction to the announcement of the fixtures for season two of the DP World ILT20. The Vipers are in action for the first time on the third day of the tournament, against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in Dubai on Sunday January the 21st, and then face a run of 10 matches in 22 days, including six games...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is a bumper edition.   First up, we hear from the Desert Vipers latest recruits, left-arm spinning all-rounder Aryan Lakra and leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan, with the duo chosen by the franchise during the UAE player draft.   And then we check in with the Desert Vipers Sustainability Manager Ben Hardy-Jones to understand a bit more about why the side’s drive to reduce...

Send us Fan Mail This time we’re in analytical mode. In our previous podcast we revealed the news that leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan and left-arm spinner Aryan Lakra were drafted by the Vipers for season two of the tournament and so we thought that as both players are slow bowlers then who better to give us the inside track on them than the team’s very own spin bowling coach Carl Crowe.  Carl join...

Send us Fan Mail It’s a special episode as we discuss the news that the Vipers have filled the last two slots for UAE players in their roster by picking up spin-bowling all-rounder Aryan Lakra and leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan in the draft that took place on the morning of Friday October the 20th.   The pair join forces with the two UAE players that the Vipers retained from season one – off-spinni...

Send us Fan Mail This time we speak with UAE off-spinning all-rounder Rohan Mustafa.   Rohan was retained by the Vipers, alongside another all-rounder Ali Naseer, and so he’s gearing up for season two very much with a spring in his step, looking forward to link up with plenty of familiar faces among the playing group, a handful of new signings and, of course, the coaching staff.   Rohan was a pivo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we speak with Vipers wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan.   Azam was due to join the Vipers for the first season but the necessary permissions didn’t come through so he and the Vipers have had to bide their time. Now all is in readiness for him to make his bow in the tournament and he can’t wait!   In our chat Azam gives us a terrific insight into how he has become one o...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we speak with Vipers spin bowling coach Carl Crowe. Carl’s role is to work with the slow-bowling talent within the franchise and in a fascinating interview he allows a peak behind the curtain at how he goes about his job, including his interactions with Wanindu Hasaranga, the Sri Lanka wrist spinner who was one of the few slow bowlers to enjoy concerted success in...

Send us Fan Mail This time we have an interview with Netherlands all-rounder Bas de Leede.   Bas was with MI Emirates in season one of the DP World ILT20, but he has been snapped up by the Vipers for the second edition and arrives as one of the most exciting young talents in the game.   Bas is in India for the ICC Cricket World Cup, having played a key role in helping his country qualify for the t...

Send us Fan Mail This time we have an interview with Vipers Head Coach James Foster.   James is preparing to work with New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup in India in October and November but, ahead of that, he took the time to chat with us about his reflections on the first edition of the ILT20 when the Vipers finished as runners-up, as well as his work since then, the Vipers’ new signings for s...

Send us Fan Mail This time we speak with UAE all-rounder Ali Naseer who was one of the two local players retained by the Vipers from season one, alongside Rohan Mustafa.   Since the inaugural DP World ILT20 tournament it’s been a whirlwind year for Ali as he’s made his One-Day International and Twenty20 International debuts for the UAE as well as captaining his national side in an Asian Cricket Co...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we speak with Desert Vipers seam bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, the former Pakistan all-rounder. Azhar is fresh off a stint with the Oval Invincibles in the Men's Hundred in the UK, where the side won that tournament for the first time - a side including Desert Vipers players Tom Curran and Gus Atkinson, as well as Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody (Head Coac...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we have a chat with opening batter Alex Hales on all things Desert Vipers and he reflected on season one and looked ahead to season two. Alex was in Dubai on a whistle-stop visit between his commitments in The Hundred in the UK and a stint at the Caribbean Premier League, and while he was in the UAE Vipers Voices took the chance to catch up with a player who was th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we reflect upon the news that the Vipers have announced six new signings for season two of the competition – the Pakistan trio of fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, leg-spinning all-rounder Shadab Khan and wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan, plus English batter Adam Hose and the Associate duo of batter Michael Jones of Scotland and the Netherlands’ all-rounder Bas de Leed...

Send us Fan Mail It may be six months until the first ball of the second edition of the tournament is bowled but the Desert Vipers have not been idle, and the team’s management gathered at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London to announce a sustainability strategy.   The idea behind it was borne of the carbon footprint produced by the Desert Vipers in the 2023 ILT20 (roughly 570 tonnes of CO2 emissions)...