The Desert Vipers have added to their UAE contingent for the upcoming DP World ILT20 by drafting in exciting 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Tanish Suri.Tanish, who made his senior international debut for the UAE against Afghanistan in December 2023, becomes the Vipers’ fifth local signing for season two, alongside the retained Rohan Mustafa and Ali Naseer and the draft recruits Karthik Meiyappan and Aryan Lakra.Tanish will bolster the squad’s keeping resources at the start of the tournament with Azam Khan on duty for Pakistan in a Twenty20 International series in New Zealand that runs until January 21st.Tanish’s signing by the Vipers continues a golden period for the teenager.In addition to making that senior national bow against Afghanistan, playing all three T20Is in the recent series, he was also part of the UAE under-19 side that reached the final of the Asian Cricket Council Under-19 Asia Cup in the UAE in December.Tanish was the joint top-scorer for his country in that tournament alongside Aayan Afzal Khan, totalling 163 runs in five matches, including 75 from 88 balls against Sri Lanka, one of two wins for the side against ICC Full Members as they also overcame Pakistan before losing out to Bangladesh in the final at the Dubai International Stadium.Tanish played as a specialist batter in the under-19 Asia Cup, going in at numbers three and four during the tournament while Aryansh Sharma took the gloves. Still, he was behind the stumps for all three matches against Afghanistan in Sharjah.Reflecting on his inclusion in the Vipers squad, Tanish said: “I am really excited, it is a dream come true.“I cannot wait to link up with the squad and work alongside the great players we have. I know I have a lot of learning to do but alongside those players and with the coaching staff, it will be great to be involved.”Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody said: “We are delighted to welcome Tanish to the Desert Vipers squad. He is an exciting young player and the fact he has been selected at UAE senior level at 18 years of age shows we are not the only ones to recognise his ability.“Tanish will add to our wicketkeeping depth whilst we have some squad movement throughout the tournament. Opting for an additional UAE player is something we are proud of as a franchise, it shows our commitment in helping to develop the game here in the UAE. We believe having five domestic players in our squad is a win-win for everyone.“We are excited in taking part in helping Tanish develop in a high-performance environment with the Desert Vipers.”

The DP World ILT20 gets underway on Friday 19 January and the Desert Vipers’ first match is against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday 21 January.Tickets for all Desert Vipers matches are now on sale and can be purchased via the official DP World ILT20 website or at any Virgin Megastore across the UAE.

Over the past week, Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody has been busy working with his very talented coaching team and the management, setting plans in place for season two of the DP World ILT20. The goal is to go one better than last year and win the trophy.Speaking to the Vipers Voices podcast, Tom Moody said he believed the team has what it takes: “We feel very confident in what we have done in our prep, and we feel we have recruited exceptionally well, and we know we are going to have a few obstacles with players coming and going. But at the end of the day we, like all the other franchises, have set our sights on lifting the trophy.“We were one step short last year, but we feel we have the depth and quality of our squad right and we just have to prepare in the last few days into our first game and hopefully we can get off to a winning start and reach the big dance.”Leading the Desert Vipers on the field is Colin Munro, who has been handed the role of captain for a second year running, and that was a very easy decision according to the Director of Cricket: “He (Colin Munro) did a great job last year.“It is always tricky for a captain with a new franchise and not just that but a new tournament. He had to shoulder a lot of responsibilities, with all the obstacles while bringing a new team together but also a new franchise finding its feet in a new tournament.“Colin has a lot of experience around the globe especially in T20 cricket, and he was given the opportunity, and he did a great job both on the field and off it and hopefully he can take us one step further this year.”Munro has been in tremendous batting form, most recently for Brisbane Heat in the BBL, where he played the role of opener successfully, and is currently the top scorer for his team.So, does that mean Munro will go up the order for the Vipers as well? Moody said he believed the captain’s greatest attribute is his adaptability: “Colin, over his playing career, has occupied anywhere from one to five in the batting order, hence he is such a desirable player in this format.“He has been central to the success of Brisbane Heat in the BBL, and it is great that he is coming to us in some really good form, and whether he finds himself at the top of the order or three or four, we will see on the opening day, as we do not want to give too much away.”This year the desert Vipers face the prospect of greater player movement in and out of the team, due to international commitments, but Tom Moody said the real challenge was how to best manage the players: “Every team faces the same challenge with players from other cricketing nations, where you have fixture challenges where some teams have Test, ODI or T20 series clashing with our tournament. That is the landscape of T20 cricket.“What we have is a strong squad in all departments, we boast a strong bowling attack and as we know with fast bowlers there is no guarantee they are going to remain fit for the whole tournament. Also, we have a very congested schedule this season with two sets of back-to-back games.“So, it is about managing players, as we do not want to burn players out. If we have the depth in our squad and it does not compromise the best eleven that we can put out there, we will use the flexibility and depth and quality in our squad to do so. At this stage, we are very comfortable going into season two.”

When asked by Vipers Voices about his take on the super-sub rule, Moody had a great suggestion to offer: “I personally would have liked to see the super-sub rule used for the UAE players rather than exclusively for the overseas players. Purely because it enables you to use three UAE players in your playing eleven, UAE players get more exposure, and you can use a specialist UAE batter and a specialist UAE bowler. You get more players getting exposed to top-level cricket and ultimately, we are all here to develop the game in the region.”And speaking about the four UAE players in the squad Moody said: “We are very excited (about the four UAE players in the squad). We have a spin focus, and they provide us with that depth and options, with an additional leg-break bowler and a left-arm spinner. Finalising the two UAE players will give us a (selection) headache there as well because what we have seen is that all four players have shown great promise, and we are excited about what they can potentially bring to the table.”One setback for the team came with news of Tom Curran being ruled out of the tournament, but Tom Moody said he expected Curran to bounce back in even better form: “Unfortunately for Tom (Curran) he had to cut his BBL season short with a knee injury and he had to take the difficult decision to step away from the ILT20 this year.“He will be a big loss for us not only because he is a real impact player on the field with bat and ball but his impact off the field is also considerable. We wish him well because he is an integral part of the Desert Vipers and hopefully has a long and fruitful future with us.”The DP World ILT20 gets underway on Friday 19 January and the Desert Vipers’ first match is against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday 21 January.Tickets for all Desert Vipers matches are now on sale and can be purchased via the official DP World ILT20 website or at any Virgin Megastore across the UAE.

England batter Dan Lawrence, one of England’s top batting talents, has been drafted in as the Desert Vipers’ first wildcard player. And he is ready to give the selectors – at the Vipers and England – a headache.The 26-year-old enjoyed an excellent summer of shortform cricket in the top three for Essex in the T20 Blast and London Spirit in The Hundred. And in his latest assignment ahead of the DP World ILT20 he has been opening the batting for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.That stint as an opener in Australia included 50 in 26 balls on debut against the Adelaide Strikers – including new Vipers team-mate Adam Hose – and Dan said he was keen to bat at the top of the order again in the UAE, although he added that competition for those spots would be fierce.“I will bat wherever I am told in the ILT20, but as a batter you want to have as much time as you possibly can,” he told the Vipers Voices podcast. “Being in the top three allows you to do that and score some big runs. I will first focus on trying to get into the team and then I will focus on where to bat.“I have had a look at the list of players and there is some fierce competition and so we will just have to wait until I get there and see what happens.”Dan is the Vipers’ first wildcard pick for the new season of a tournament that gets underway on Friday 19 January.The wildcard is a new development for this season with each franchise allowed to pick two wildcard players, extending the squad limit to 24 players, while also expanding the spending purse limit by US$250,000. Wildcard players can be brought in by teams at any time in the tournament, but once framed, cannot be replaced.Explaining why he ended up in the tournament via the wildcard route, Dan said: “I was not selected in the ILT20 draft because I was going to be away potentially playing for England, but that did not happen.“I am very grateful to get the opportunity to play with the Vipers and hopefully we can have a good season.”

Slotting into the Vipers squad will be a case of many happy returns for Dan, in three senses.The right-hander is back in the league after playing three matches for the Dubai Capitals last season. He is also linking up with his first captain in first-class cricket, James Foster, the Vipers’ head coach. And he is back in the UAE after taking part in the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament late last year, his third time in that competition.“I was lucky to play a few (DP World ILT20) games last year and it is good to come back this year with a little bit of a feel of how the competition works,” he said. “Us English cricketers spend quite a lot of time in the year playing cricket in Dubai, so we know the conditions really well. For me now, it is all about going out there and performing.”And fitting in to the Vipers dressing room should be no problem for the hard-hitting Lawrence, whose top-order power helped propel Essex to the final of the T20 Blast in the UK in 2023.“I know quite a few of the boys,” he said. “Now that all of us get to play quite a bit of franchise cricket we also have time to get to know each other off the field. I know James Foster, my first county captain at Essex, I know Alex Hales quite well and I know Luke Wood quite well as we played together in the T10. I know Daz Veness the fitness coach too, and so there a lot of people I know.”James Foster said he was delighted to welcome his former team-mate into the Vipers fold for the campaign.“I have known Dan Lawrence for a long time, on and off the field, and I know the qualities he will bring to the Vipers,” he said.“He is a positive influence in the dressing room, and having a player of his quality joining our squad is fantastic news.“He is an aggressive 360 degree batter who has the unique ability to play a variety of roles, and he is a quality off spin bowler who will give us extra options with the ball.“Dan is a top-quality signing and I look forward to welcoming him into the Vipers set-up for this campaign.”Dan, who left Essex for Surrey when the 2023 UK season ended, is better known as a Test player and has never been capped by England in white ball cricket. In the longest format he has been impressive in the 11 Tests he has played, scoring 551 runs, including four fifties, and a highest score of 91 coming against the West Indies in Barbados in 2022.But his shortform record is mightily impressive too, and he was a standout player last summer.In The Hundred, Dan was second-highest run-scorer for London Spirit with 151 runs at a strike-rate of 164.13. And in the T20 Blast he finished as Essex’s second-highest run-scorer, with 386 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 153.1 as his side went all the way to the final, where they lost to Somerset.Dan said he was hoping his stint with the Vipers could help to propel him into the forefront of the England selectors’ minds when it comes to white ball cricket.“Playing for England in white ball cricket is massively on my agenda,” he said. “I have not got to play as much franchise cricket as I would have liked to over the last two years because I have been travelling around a lot with England in the Test match squad.“Test matches have always been my priority and something I have wanted to achieve and succeed in, but playing for England in any format is an honour and something I have got my eye on.“Realistically, I think there are a few boys ahead of me in the white ball set-up (for England) but playing in franchise leagues and performing can only enhance my case, and in cricket things can change really quickly.“If I start banging out the runs then there is no reason why I cannot be in the (England white ball) mix.“England are blessed with some high-quality T20 players across the country and I have not been able to play as much white ball cricket as others so I feel a little bit away from it (England white ball selection) at the moment, which is fine, purely because I have put all my eggs in the red ball basket over the past couple of years.“Now I have got the opportunity to go and play some white ball cricket, hopefully that will change.”The batter said he was bullish about Desert Vipers’ chances of lifting the trophy after finishing as runners-up in the inaugural edition, losing out to Gulf Giants in the final in 2023.“Hundred percent (the Desert Vipers can go one better in season two). If you look through the names on our squad it looks unmatched to anyone else.“If everyone plays close to their potential, then I think the Vipers have a great chance. We have a lot of experience and a lot of exciting cricketers, and I do not see why that team should not have success. This is an exciting time to be a part of the Vipers and hopefully we can go one better.”The DP World ILT20 gets underway on Friday 19 January and the Desert Vipers’ first match is against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday 21 January.Tickets for all Desert Vipers matches are now on sale and can be purchased via the official DP World ILT20 website or at any Virgin Megastore across the UAE.

Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Amir, one of only 21 players to top 300 wickets in Twenty20 cricket history, has been drafted in by the Desert Vipers to reinforce their pace stocks for season two of the DP World ILT20.

The 31-year-old, who stepped back from international cricket in 2020, is also one of only six Pakistan players to top 50 international wickets in all three formats – Tests, One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals – with 259 victims in total for his country.

Amir brings a wealth of experience to the Vipers, having represented 17 teams in the format prior to making his Vipers bow, including the Karachi Kings in the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Jamaica Tallawahs in the most recent edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Explaining Amir’s inclusion in the Desert Vipers squad, Director of Cricket Tom Moody said: “Players of Amir’s quality and experience are valuable assets, and we are delighted to have secured his services for this edition of the DP World ILT20.

“In signing Amir, we have lined up a player who knows both the format and the conditions in the UAE, inside-out. He was playing in Abu Dhabi as recently as last month, for the New York Strikers in the T10 tournament, under one of our coaches, Carl Crowe, with the Strikers going on to win that event in large part due to Amir’s contributions with the ball.

“And in a world where player availability is not always guaranteed because of international commitments, the fact he no longer plays for Pakistan means call-ups for his national team are not an issue.

“Amir adds further depth to our quality pace attack and we look forward to welcoming him to the Desert Vipers and to him contributing to what we hope and expect will be a successful campaign.”

Amir has tasted success at the highest levels of the sport, as part of Pakistan sides that won the ICC World T20 in 2009 and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017. He is one of only 11 Pakistan players to take 50 or more wickets in Twenty20 Internationals.

Amir said he was thrilled at the opportunity to link up with the side that finished as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the DP World ILT20 in February 2023, losing out to the Gulf Giants in the final.

“I am really looking forward to joining the Desert Vipers team,” he said. “Last year they performed so well, and I hope I can help to make us one of the top sides again this season.

“The dressing room has some very talented and experienced players like Alex Hales, Colin Munro and Sheldon Cottrell, and some exciting new faces and I am really looking forward to playing with my fellow Pakistanis Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Azam Khan.

“I always enjoy playing in the UAE because the cricket fans always support Pakistan players and cheer us on. I know the local conditions as I have played a lot of cricket there, so that will be an advantage for me. I cannot wait to come to Dubai, and meet the team and all the amazing coaching staff, including Carl Crowe, who I worked with in the T10 tournament last month.”

Amir had a busy 2023 which included finishing as the Jamaica Tallawahs’ top wicket-taker in the CPL. The fast bowler also claimed the most wickets for the Karachi Kings in the latest edition of the PSL.

The DP World ILT20 gets underway on Friday 19 January and the Desert Vipers’ first match is against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday 21 January.

Tickets for all Desert Vipers matches are now on sale and can be purchased via the official DP World ILT20 website or at any Virgin Megastore across the UAE.