Vipers Voices – Details, episodes & analysis

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With season four just two weeks away, we’ve got a bumper episode for you. We hear from Khuzaima bin Tanveer, the UAE fast bowler who made such a sensational start to life with the Vipers in the previous edition of the tournament. And we also catch up with Phil Oliver, the Desert Vipers CEO, who talks us through off-field preparations for the start of the action.

Very few people outside of UAE cricketing circles had heard of Khuzaima prior to season three, but he showcased his ability very clearly with four for 22 on debut against the Sharjah Warriorz and was a fixture in the team after that performance.

Khuzaima talks us through his memories of that first performance as well as his impressions of his first season in a T20 franchise tournament and he tells us what he’s been up to since then, ahead of season four.

Phil Oliver talks to us about new commercial partners, the return of several other partners from the previous editions of the tournament and also the outreach programmes the Vipers have been running to ensure the footprint of the franchise remains very much in place across the whole year rather than just during the DP World ILT20.

Phil speaks, too, about Tom Moody’s new role with Lucknow Super Giants and what that means for the Vipers, he addresses the balance between the team’s desire to promote sustainability while, at the same time, ensure the focus remains with on-field excellence and how the change of timing for this season’s tournament is impacting what goes on behind the scenes.

Tickets are now on sale for all Vipers matches for the new season, starting with the opening match of the tournament, a repeat of February’s final, with the side facing the Dubai Capitals at the Dubai International Stadium on the 2nd of December.

You can buy them through the league’s official ticketing platform, Virgin Megastore by visiting www.tickets.ilt20.ae.

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This time we speak with English batter Max Holden, one of the breakout stars of the DP World ILT20 in season three.

Max had to be patient at the start of his first season with the Vipers and wasn’t initially able to break into the line-up in the first half of the last campaign.

But rather than sulk, he used his time to work on his game with batting coach Neil McKenzie and so when he did get his chance, he was ready to take it with both hands.

 His outstanding batting at the backend of the tournament helped power the Vipers to the final and he was equally good in that match too, making an excellent half-century that so nearly contributed to a first title for the franchise.

Max tells us all about his first experience with the Vipers as he reflects on that near miss, and also speaks of his and the team’s hunger to go one better in season four.

He also talks with us about how the DP World ILT20 helped set him up for his best-ever season in English county cricket as he topped 1000 first-class runs for the first time – with form like that helping him break into the England Lions set-up for matches against India A.

Of course, Max’s success in season three means he’ll come into the new edition of the tournament as a player who’ll be very much more of a known quantity to opposition bowlers, and he explains to us how he’s dealing with that, as well as giving us an insight into his preparations for the new season.

Don't forget that tickets are now on sale for all Vipers matches in season four and you can purchase them through the league’s official ticketing platform, Virgin Megastore by visiting www.tickets.ilt20.ae.

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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 Abu Dhabi Knight Riders side the previous evening and looked on course to take the title when they bowled out Sharjah Warriorz for 134 and then reached 60 for one inside the seventh over in reply.

But a superb fightback by the Sharjah bowlers shut down the Vipers batters and in the end the side couldn’t get across the line.

That was the negative, but the positive was some outstanding performances across the tournament by Vipers players – and coming up Jack Luffman talks us through them and the benefits that have come to both the Vipers and UAE cricket as a result.

The Development Tournament featured sides from all six DP World ILT20 franchises and for all the players involved it was a chance to showcase their talent with a view to being picked up in the main tournament’s first-ever auction, which is set to take place in late September ahead of season four in December and January.

Taking part in the tournament was all part of the Desert Vipers’ progress towards that fourth season, which is set to get underway on December the 2nd with the Vipers playing the opening match against the reigning champions the Dubai Capitals, a repeat of last season’s thrilling final.

Remember the Vipers have reached the final twice in the three previous editions, also playing in the ultimate match of the first season, in 2023, as well as in February against the Capitals, and in season four the aim – of course – is to go one better this time and finally lift the silverware.

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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 season two and plenty more besides.

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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 Council tournament up against India and Pakistan’s A sides.

Ali walks us through all that’s happened to him during that time, as well as looking ahead to season two as the Vipers look to go one better than in February of this year when the team lost out in the final to the Gulf Giants.

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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 Coach for the Oval Invincibles) and Strength and Conditioning Coach Darren Veness.

Azhar gives us chapter and verse on the Pakistan trio of Shaheen Shah Afraid, Shadab Khan and Azam Khan, all of whom he's worked with previously, as well as offering insights into Gus, Tom Curran and all the other bowlers he coached during season one of the DP World ILT20.

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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 the leading run-scorer in the inaugural edition of the ILT20, as well as someone who scored the first-ever hundred in the tournament.

Alex looked back on his experiences during his time with the Vipers at the start of the year, and he also spoke about the new signings for season two – the Pakistan trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Azam Khan, plus Adam Hose from England, Scotland’s Michael Jones and Bas de Leede, the Dutch all-rounder.

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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 Leede.

Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody talks us through the thinking behind signing each of the new faces and as he and the team start the countdown to the action getting underway in January 2024.

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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), the need to reduce it and so play a part in reducing the effect of climate change.

Coming up we hear from a whole host of people, from Desert Vipers CEO Phil Oliver, Director of Cricket Tom Moody and Head Coach James Foster to Ian Curtis of the Environmental Change Institute of Oxford University, Sean Morris from 1.5 Degrees Sport and Gary Adlen of Carbon Happy World, all of them explaining what the Vipers’ initiative means.

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In this last Vipers Voices of this first season of the DP World ILT20 we reflect on the final match of the tournament.

The Vipers ended up on the losing side against the Gulf Giants, going down by seven wickets in the penultimate over.

Disappointment then for the Vipers players, staff and supporters but plenty to be positive about too as this newly-created franchise has come so close to glory.

In this episode we’ll look back not only on the final but also on the tournament as a whole and to do that we’ll hear from head coach James Foster, and we’ll also drop in on the post-match media conference of captain Colin Munro.

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