Dubai, UAE (November 7, 2023) – The DP World ILT20 may still be more than two months away but Desert Vipers all-rounder Tom Curran is already plotting and planning to ensure the side goes one better in 2024 after finishing as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament.
The Vipers missed out against the Gulf Giants in the final, losing by seven wickets, and looking back on that defeat, Curran said: “Losing that final hurt, but after about 48 hours you take the positives and the way we lost that final made it a little easier.
“If we had got 220 and they chased it down with us bowling poorly then that would have probably stung and hurt a lot more. After all, we played some great cricket in the competition and we were definitely one of the two best sides.
“Unfortunately, we lost in that final and it is still at the back of my mind as a little sting, but at least we have got next year to try and go one better.”
Asked if he could change just one thing about that final, Curran added: “Maybe just start again because (if we did then) I do not think we would have as bad a powerplay again (the Vipers were 30 for three after six overs and then dipped to 44 for four before recovering to post 146 for eight in their 20 overs).
“I think Halesy (Alex Hales) got out quickly and we were fighting an uphill battle from that first ten minutes of the final.
“We still took it a fair distance and they got the runs in the end pretty easily (with eight balls to spare) but for a long period of that chase, it was game on.
“It was tough, but we did not get enough runs and that was the simple reason why we lost,” he added.
And while the final produced that “little sting”, the all-rounder who has represented England in all three international formats, said he still had fond memories of that first tournament in Vipers colours.
“I loved it, and it was an amazing experience being a part of the Desert Vipers in the inaugural ILT20,” said Curran.
“What an amazing franchise and, honestly, I cannot fault many things. The one thing that went wrong was probably losing in the final. The journey we went on as a team, the group of players we had, the coaching staff, physios, management team, everyone on it, it was just a great setup, and I really enjoyed my time there and I cannot wait to get back.”
Curran was a member of England’s 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup winning squad but four years on from that triumph at Lord’s, the side’s defence of its title has ended up as a damp squib.
And reflecting on that disappointment, Curran said it was hard to put his finger on one thing that had caused the wheels to fall off the England wagon.
“From listening to the interviews and chatting to a couple of the guys, I do not think there is anything in particular. That is sport (and) it just happens. I have no doubt that it is not because of lack of effort or lack of preparation or any of those things, but I think it just happens sometimes.
“I did not even play in the 2019 World Cup, so I am not saying the 2019 team was better, but maybe there was a bit more stability in selection there. The team that was playing then was unchanged for a three- or four-year period building up to that, and I know that because I was a part of that group.
“You did not just get easy games (with caps given out freely) unless there was injury. At the end of the day the players who are out there (in 2023) are the best players in England and are selected because they are that. At the end of the day, they just have not performed.”
Since his stint at the ILT20 for the Desert Vipers, Curran has been all over the world, taking wickets and scoring runs for franchise teams across the globe, including in Pakistan, the West Indies, and England.
And although the Vipers narrowly missed out on that ILT20 silverware, Curran more than made up for that personally with a match-winning batting performance for the Oval Invincibles in The Hundred, as his team won the title. On top of that, he has taken wickets for Islamabad United in the PSL, been part of the Surrey side that reached finals day in the T20 Blast in the United Kingdom, and played and trained alongside West Indies legends Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, and Kieron Pollard in his short stint with the Caribbean Premier League.
Curran said his focus, at least for the time being, was now on shorter formats because of his recent injury history and also because it probably represented his best chance of returning to international ranks.
“My personal ambitions are that I am probably closer to getting back in the white ball side (for England) than I am the red ball side,” he said. “For me, although I still have a big part of me that would love to play red-ball cricket again, to get anywhere near that red-ball England side, I would have to earn those stripes and grind away playing red-ball cricket.”
Curran attributed the success he enjoyed in The Hundred to the setup at the Oval Invincibles led by Head Coach Tom Moody, the Desert Vipers Director of Cricket. Curran himself scored an unbeaten 67 from just 34 balls in the final to help lift his side from the depths of despair to ultimate victory.
“I don’t know how we won that day (against the Manchester Originals),” he said. “It was an incredible day. In my mind, when I came in and we were 34-5 I thought that if we knocked it around and got to 110 then we were not going to win.
“I feel I get into better positions (as a batter) when I am being positive. People say ‘What were you thinking?’ but all I did was just try to stay calm, and be in the moment. and tell myself to be positive.
“I had been in decent form, and I knew I was batting well. I just tried to be positive and we managed to get a hundred and sixty-odd somehow and we won The Hundred. It was an incredible day, and an incredible tournament but I felt a shift as soon as I walked into that environment with Tom Moody. I just felt confident, I knew I was backed, and luckily we won it.”
Here are a selected set of quotes from Tom Curran’s interview with the Vipers Voices podcast:
Reflecting on season one of the DP World ILT20, what went well and what could have been improved from a team and an individual perspective:
“I loved it, and it was an amazing experience being a part of the Desert Vipers in the inaugural ILT20. What an amazing franchise and, honestly, I cannot fault many things. The one thing that went wrong was probably losing in the final. The journey we went on as a team, the group of players we had, the coaching staff, physios, management team, everyone on it, it was just a great setup, and I really enjoyed my time there and I cannot wait to get back.”
On being the Vipers’ joint second highest wicket-taker along with Sheldon Cottrell, with twelve wickets, with an economy rate of 8.7 – very steady figures given his death over bowling duties:
“I was happy. I did not feel like I took many wickets in the competition but, when you are winning, I felt like I was contributing to those performances. That is the most important thing, to contribute to wins. I felt like I was bowling well and we were sharing wickets around the group, and we had an opportunity to win a trophy and I was pleased with that.
Reflecting on his efforts with the bat, scoring 150 runs at a strike rate of close to 150:
“I am happy now, and feel in a great place, but during the tournament I did not feel in the most amazing nick, to be honest. I got some scores and I contributed with some cameos at the end and some good partnerships, but in terms of how I was feeling, I was tinkering with some stuff. But all of that in the buildup to the journey where we are makes me feel good.”
On conditions assisting seam and swing more than spin in season one, and how that was not what many would have predicted at the outset:
“It was really interesting. We figured the smart balls that were used in the tournament were swinging a lot more throughout the power play, and sometimes beyond if you did not get smacked to the boundary too many times. That was great for us with someone like Sheldon bowling two or three overs upfront and hooping it, and that had a knock-on effect on where I bowled. I was not getting much swing with it, but it was great for the game. I thought it (the ball swinging) contributed to some competitive games. It was a nice even battle between bat and ball, and the openers were not able to come and just tee it up. I enjoyed the style of cricket.”
On whether it was a hard decision to come back to the Vipers for a second season:
“I had signed (on for the second season) already so it was a very easy decision. Tom Moody is running such a smooth ship there, and I have spent time with him in different competitions as well. The whole coaching staff and management team were so great, and the group of players really gelled so well together. Add to that the signings we have made now and we look a decent side.”
Reflecting on heading to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) right after season one with the Desert Vipers, playing for Islamabad United alongside Vipers teammates Alex Hales and Colin Munro and along future teammates Shadab Khan and Azam Khan as he took eight wickets in five matches:
“It was a great experience, and going to the PSL definitely helped me a lot. The wickets were unbelievably flat, and the fields were tiny with rapid outfields, and gun batters. So the standard was really high and (the learnings) were just some skills-based things that worked on those wickets.
“Most things that work on those wickets in Pakistan would work anywhere in the world and on any wicket, so I took a lot of confidence from that and it was enjoyable. The past couple of years have been really frustrating for me as a whole, in terms of my body and injuries. It has just been one little thing after another. I had to leave the PSL just before the finals because of a stress fracture. Luckily it was a similar pain in a similar area (to the previous one I had experienced) so I pulled out at the right time and it healed really quickly, which allowed me to play at the end of the summer with Surrey in the T20 Blast and then The Hundred. This whole two to three-year period has been two steps forward and one step back for me (because of injuries), but now I am on a really good path at the moment.”
On whether it was hard to bounce back from the disappointment of the ILT20 final and crack on with another tournament just a few days later:
“I would not say I felt too much of a mental hangover. Losing that (ILT20) final hurt, but after about 48 hours you take the positives, and the way we lost that final made it a little easier. If we had got 220 and they chased it down with us bowling poorly then that would have probably stung and hurt a lot more.
“After all, we played some great cricket over the competition and we were definitely one of the two best sides. Unfortunately, we lost in that final and it is still at the back of my mind as a little sting, but at least we have got next year to try and go one better.”
On whether the decision not to play first-class cricket in the summer was purely due to injury or whether he wants to focus on white ball cricket, especially with the T20 World Cup coming around next year:
“I decided not to play red-ball cricket this summer before I knew about the stress fracture, so that was not the reason. There are a few reasons (why I did not play red-ball cricket this summer), one of them being I had a couple of niggles throughout that time, and then I came to the ILT20, had a good block of playing there, and then the PSL, and the plan was to hopefully have a couple of quiet months while being fit and keep building on the block of playing and then get into the white ball stuff for the (UK) summer. It is no secret that the opportunities in franchise and white ball cricket are now huge.
“My personal ambitions are that I am probably closer to getting back on the white ball side (for England) than I am on the red ball side. For me although I still have a big part of me that loves to play red-ball cricket again, for me to get anywhere near that red-ball England side, I would have to earn those stripes and grind away playing red-ball cricket.
“And in my thinking, I did not want to come back from Pakistan knowing I did not really want to be playing and giving everything, and bowling 25 overs in a day, how I usually want to do it. I cannot really be in any team and say ‘Just let me just have a few overs.’ If I want to play, I want to give it my all and I made that decision simply to protect my relationship with Surrey. I had a chat with Alec Stewart (Surrey’s Director of Cricket), and he understood. It was not like I did not want to play red-ball cricket, but I just wanted to protect my body, and the decision was based on a health perspective. I was still contracted with Surrey to play red-ball cricket, so financially (the decision not to play) was not to my benefit. I decided to play white ball cricket for the summer and then I got injured. That was frustrating but at the same time I was pretty content with my decision.”
On playing a match-winning role for the Oval Invincibles in the final of The Hundred, scoring 67 from 34 balls:
“I don’t know how we won that day (against the Manchester Originals). It was an incredible day. In my mind, when I came in and we were 34-5 I thought that if we knocked it around and got to 110 then we were not going to win. I feel I get into better positions (as a batter) when I am being positive. People say: ‘What were you thinking?’ but all I did was just try to stay calm, and be in the moment. and tell myself to be positive.
“I had been in decent form, and I knew I was batting well. I just tried to be positive and we managed to get 160-odd somehow and we won The Hundred. It was an incredible day, and an incredible tournament but I felt a shift as soon as I walked into that environment with Tom Moody. I just felt confident, I knew I was backed, and, luckily, we won it.”
On conversations with Tom Moody about his role at the Vipers, as a finisher, or up the order:
“I always have some banter with Tom Moody about getting me up the order, but at the same time, I know the most valuable players are in that role. I just want to keep developing my batting and bowling. Guys like Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, come in at the end and can change the game. That is the benchmark that fits me nicely and if I can keep developing that role, finishing games coming in at five or six, at the backend, and add that to my bowling, I would like to think I am valuable to the team.”
On his brief stay at the Caribbean Premier League in 2023 and whether it gave useful learnings about the West Indies stars who are also key figures in the opposition in the ILT20 – Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran and Sunil Narine:
“That was an amazing experience for me, I enjoyed that a lot, spending time with these guys and watching the way in which they operate. One thing that stood out was the intensity of training. It was amazing and I really enjoyed that. I have played with some of these players before and I have watched them, so to mix in and be amongst them was great. Things like watching Russell running into Pollard, and properly getting into battle.
“These guys play a lot for their national side and also with T20 cricket in teams around the world, but the intensity that they created in training and that competitive natural streak the Caribbean boys have, that I had not really seen in person, I loved it. It was something that most teams should be doing because that creates a stimulus and an intensity of match practice. (During the sessions) your teammates are fielding, and you are facing your team’s strike bowler in a game scenario, and there is that real competitive streak and this is as close as you get to in-game under-pressure moments against quality players. It was a great experience, and I would love to go back.”
On what has gone wrong for England at the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup:
“From listening to the interviews and chatting to a couple of the guys, I do not think there is anything in particular. That is sport (and) it just happens. I have no doubt that it is not because of lack of effort or lack of preparation or any of those things, but I think it just happens sometimes.
“I did not even play in the 2019 World Cup, so I am not saying the 2019 team was better, but maybe there was a bit more stability in selection there. The team that was playing then was unchanged for a three- or four-year period building up to that, and I know that because I was a part of that group.
“You did not just get easy games (with caps given out freely) unless there was injury. At the end of the day, the players who are out there (in 2023) are the best players in England and are selected because they are that. At the end of the day, they just have not performed.”
The second edition of the ILT20 is scheduled to start on the 19th of January 2024. The Desert Vipers finished as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament in January and February 2023.
