Vipers Voices

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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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In this episode of Vipers Voices we preview the final of the DP World ILT20, with the Desert Vipers all set to take on the Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday the 12th of February.

As we look ahead to that clash between the sides that finished one and two in the group stage of the tournament, we speak with Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody and we also drop in on the pre-match media conference with the two captains, with Colin Munro and the Gulf Giants’ James Vince.

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In this episode we start our build-up to the final of the DP World ILT20, with the Desert Vipers waiting to see who they’ll be playing at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday the 12th of February.

The Vipers have earned the chance to sit back and watch others battle it out for that second berth in the ultimate match after beating the Gulf Giants in the Qualifier on Wednesday.

And as the side starts its preparations for the match, we catch up with all-rounder Tom Curran, the player of the match in that Qualifier, as he gives us his thoughts – and very interesting ones they are too.


For Tom, getting through to the final is the fulfilment of a goal that he and his team-mates set themselves when they first came together at the beginning of January. But they all know it now boils down to one final effort from the team in order to get the job done and lift the trophy.

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This episode of Vipers Voices reflects on the Desert Vipers booking a place in the final of the inaugural DP World ILT20 with a 19-run victory over the Gulf Giants in the Qualifier at the Dubai International Stadium.

The win, after two previous losses to the same opponents in the group stage of the tournament, means the Vipers go straight into the final on February the 12th while the Gulf Giants join MI Emirates and the Dubai Capitals in the battle for the second berth in the decider.

We have reaction from Head Coach James Foster, Captain Colin Munro and also one of the heroes of the match from a Vipers perspective, Sherfane Rutherford, who defied a hamstring injury that forced him to retire hurt by returning to the crease and blasting 37 from just 19 balls.


The encounter was, perhaps, the match of the tournament so far and it had more plot twists and drama than a library full of whodunnit mysteries. It all adds up to make this a Vipers Voices that's well worth listening to!

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In this episode we preview the Qualifier match in the DP World ILT20, the match against the Gulf Giants in Dubai on Wednesday the 8th of February.

And who better to help us look ahead to that encounter than the Desert Vipers captain Colin Munro.

It really is a massive game because for the winner of that clash there’s direct access to the final on February the 12th but for the loser there’s a do-or-die match against the winner of the third versus fourth place play-off, on Friday February the 10th , for the second berth in that final.

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In this episode we speak to the new arrival in the Vipers squad, former India wicketkeeper-batter Naman Ojha, drafted in to replace Dinesh Chandimal after the Sri Lankan was called home ahead of the Test series in New Zealand. 

And we also catch up with one of the coaching staff Simon Helmot, a man with vast experience around the world in franchise competitions, experience he can look to bring to bear as we enter the business end of the tournament.

It's all part of the build-up to the Qualifier in the DP World ILT20 against the Gulf Giants in Dubai on Wednesday the 8th of February.

For the winner of that clash there’s direct access to the final on February the 12th but for the loser there’s a do-or-die match against the winner of the third versus fourth place play-off, on Friday February the 10th , for the second berth in that final.

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In this episode we reflect on a day when things never quite clicked for the Vipers as they ended the group stages of their campaign in the DP World ILT20 with a 25-run loss to the Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Stadium.

The result confirmed the Gulf Giants in the top two of the table alongside the Vipers and that means the two sides will mean again on Wednesday the 8th of February in the Qualifier, with the winner going straight through to the final while the loser will face the winner of the third versus fourth match-up for the second berth in that final. 

We have reaction to the defeat, and the campaign as a whole thus far, from Head Coach James Foster, and we also hear from Tom Curran, who produced heroics with the bat but couldn’t quite get the side over the line.

We also hear from Director of Cricket Tom Moody, who explains a change in the Vipers squad as former India wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha is coming in to replace Dinesh Chandimal, who has been called home by Sri Lanka Cricket ahead of a Test tour to New Zealand. Naman will arrive in time for that next match against the Gulf Giants.

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