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.
Among those topics was the approach to recruitment for the season with the emphasis on bringing in players who were available for the majority of the season and whether that worked.
We spoke about three of the higher profile recruits – Sam Curran, captain Lockie Ferguson and Fakhar Zaman – as well as two stars of the show who arrived with very little fanfare – Max Holden and Khuzaima Bin Tanveer.
Tom also discussed the struggles of Azam Khan and latterly Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and whether the loss of Fakhar and Wanindu Hasaranga to international duty cost the side the title.
The two-time ICC Cricket World Cup winner also got out his crystal ball and gave us his opinion on some key aspects of the league ahead of season four, specifically recruitment, whether or not there should be a draft, the numbers of players to be retained, the future of the impact substitute rule and the numbers of UAE players in each playing eleven.
Tom revealed what learnings the franchise can take forward after coming so close to the ultimate prize in 2025 and he explained what the Vipers needed to do to ensure that, come 2026, the side can lift the title for the first time.
