This time we chat with the Desert Vipers Sustainability Lead, Ben Hardy-Jones as we look forward to the Sustainability Match which this season will see the team face the Dubai Capitals at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday the 14th of December, a 6.30pm start.
Ben talks to us about the significance of the match, why it is so important and what activities will be taking place on the day.
The Desert Vipers cricket team’s annual Sustainability Match will take place on Sunday December the 14th, at the Dubai International Stadium.
While the team is already playing in green kit all season to underline their commitment to sustainability as a core brand value, this season fans are in for a surprise as the players will walk out in a jersey specially conceived for the annual sustainability contest.
Inspired by work from Professor Miles Richardson from the University of Derby, the Sustainability Match jersey features the ‘Biodiversity Stripes’. Each stripe shows global wildlife populations in a given year: green shows more wildlife and the gradual fading to grey shows wildlife decline.
This jersey is designed to highlight how, over the last 50 years, global wildlife populations have declined by 73%. The desired message is a wider one though, which is highly relevant to not just cricket but all sports: healthy ecosystems regulate heat, water, and soil, all of which are essential to sport.
Without nature there is no sport.
This kit is produced in the UAE by the team’s kit partners PALMFIT from 100 percent recycled materials and will later be turned into a special piece of artwork.
Phil Oliver, Desert Vipers CEO, said he was proud of the team’s sustainability agenda, and added that the specially designed kit was another innovative move to draw attention to an important issue.
“By wearing a special kit featuring the Biodiversity Stripes at our Sustainability Match in front of millions of TV viewers, we aim to highlight the decline in biodiversity over time, and urge action to reverse the trend,” he said.
“We have greatly reduced our impact on nature in recent seasons and now invite others to take action with us.
“Cricket and nature are inherently connected, and at Desert Vipers, we want to be proactive in playing for people and the planet – this kit is a visual representation of that commitment.”
Professor Miles Richardson, Professor of Nature Connectedness at the University of Derby and Creator of the Biodiversity Stripes, added: “The Global Biodiversity Stripes provide a visual representation of the loss of biodiversity since 1970. The higher levels of biodiversity are coloured bright green. Lower levels move through yellow to darker greys with greater declines.
“The loss of wildlife is also a loss of vibrancy and colour, as our green world becomes grey. As a professional cricket franchise with an enormous reach, and one that contains a group of species in its name, I am delighted that Desert Vipers will be wearing the stripes at their Sustainability Match on the 14th of December.
“I hope that the kit captures people’s attention and imagination and encourages viewers to take a moment to notice the good things in nature each day. As that is a first step we can all take to help reverse the decline in biodiversity.”
Jana Janotova, Senior Programme Coordinator, Sports for Nature at International Union for Conservation of Nature, further added: “Desert Vipers have once again delivered an impactful awareness-raising initiative for nature – this time using their kit as a platform to tell the story of the global decline of nature.
“One of the four Sports for Nature Framework principles is to educate and inspire positive action for nature across and beyond sport, which this initiative does brilliantly. I am looking forward to seeing it in action on the TV, alongside millions of viewers.”
While the Desert Vipers continue their sustainability work through the year, this match provides a platform for nature and tests new innovations to reduce the environmental impact of cricket matches.
On December the 14th the Crickmas fan zone at the Dubai International Stadium will be taken over by Desert Vipers through a series of fun activations, all geared towards drawing participation from visitors.
The goal is to educate fans of the various ways around how they can play their part to protect and restore nature, while also revealing some of the innovative green practices in sport that have been adopted by the Desert Vipers.
In the fan zone, Middlesex University Dubai will hand out upcycled fan giveaways that have been created from last season’s Desert Vipers kit.
Bright Bites, a Partner who produces healthy snacks for children, will be handing out some of their best products to the young visitors on Sunday.
RAW Coffee Company, the team’s Official Coffee Partner, have put together a unique offering of a cycle-to-charge activation – which will be a fun experiential activity for visitors.
The Vipers’ elite Talent Pathway Programme coaches will be at the fan zone conducting action-packed cricket coaching sessions, showing the team’s deep commitment to engaging with the community and offering a pathway to talented local athletes in the UAE.
The coaches will also be running some exciting sustainability-themed mini-games as part of the aim to educate and involve our younger fans.
About the Desert Vipers Sustainability Initiatives:
The Desert Vipers are the first cricket franchise to record and make public their carbon footprint and, through a series of partnerships and key initiatives, have succeeded in reducing their carbon footprint by 20 percent since Season 1 of the DP World ILT20. People and Planet Report
They are the first cricket team to eliminate single-use plastic water bottles from the team environment, doing so in Season 2 through their partnership with Bluewater, the suppliers of water filtration systems.
This has helped cut the use of 14,400 single-use plastic bottles each season.
Another key innovation has been the switch to a local kit supplier PALMFIT for their match and training apparel, in Season 3, produced with 100 percent recycled kit.
In addition, the Desert Vipers have installed Cleaner Seas’ microfibre filters at their Team Hotel’s washing machines at JA Resorts to capture microfibres and microplastics released during washing and prevent them from polluting our oceans.
The Vipers have also partnered with local and international charities to supply leftover kit at the end of the season to those in need. The team has switched to sunglasses from Coral Eyewear made from recycled ocean plastic and are offsetting 100 percent of Season 4’s emissions in partnership with well-regarded climate-financing specialists Vuelta Carbon.
Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody has said the team will not be looking to replace injured USA wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous, who suffered a calf injury in the side’s previous match, against MI Emirates.
Speaking to the Vipers Voices podcast, Moody said he was confident Gous would be back in action soon.
“We will not be looking at a replacement, but we are hopeful that it is going to be a ten-to-fourteen-day turnaround,” he said. “I know Nirm (Nirmalan Thanabalasingam), our physio, and Daz (Veness), our strength and conditioning trainer, will be working very hard to get him back on track.
“He is in superb hands. Here at JA The Resort we have got great facilities with regards to supporting recovery, whether it be getting into the pools or getting into the ocean itself and accelerating that recovery.”
As Andries Gous recovers from injury, Moody said Scotland and former New Zealand top-order batter Tom Bruce would fill in the Associate player role. But he added discussion on who would open in place of Gous remained undecided.
“We have certainly got options,” said Moody. “I have not sat down with the Head Coach James Foster to actually discuss what he thinks around how we are going to manage that gap.
“Tom Bruce will come into the team because you have got to play that Associate player, which is brilliant from our perspective because Tom Bruce is a high-quality player and he will welcome the opportunity. And he has come from quite a bit of cricket (in New Zealand), so it is not like he is coming out of the cold.”
Andries Gous’ injury on Tuesday required the talented UAE player Vriitya Aravind to step in to the wicketkeeper role against the MI Emirates and he made a winning contribution in the last ball run-out of AM Ghazanfar which secured the victory.
And Moody, an ICC Cricket World Cup winner with Australia in 1987 and 1999, said Vriitya was a joy to have around the team environment.
“He was very much on our radar when it came to the auction,” he admitted.
“I remember in the very first year we were very keen to secure his services here at Desert Vipers, which we unfortunately did not get at that point. But three years on we have managed to get him into our squad and I think evidence in the last game shows exactly why we were keen on him.
“Vriitya is a great team man and a versatile cricketer. Yes, his natural setting is at the top of the order (as a batter), but that is quite common in these environments where your best players tend to bat in the top order in their local cricket.
“But when you come up a level (to a tournament like the DP World ILT20) that ability to adapt and bat in different positions and have different roles is really important and it is also important for his development as well.
“The other aspect is that he is an absolute jet in the field, so he does not necessarily need to keep. He has been our best fielder when he has been in the field and when he had to take over with the gloves in the last game, it was a seamless transition. He was superb.
“His glove work to Noor Ahmed was unbelievable, considering he has had very little exposure to keeping to bowlers of that nature. And the clutch moment came at the very last ball, when he executed the run-out.”
With four wins from four games, the natural tendency would be to start looking ahead to the team’s chances of making it to the play-offs. But Moody believed it was too early to make those predictions.
“It would be a foolish mistake if we do (look too far ahead),” he said. “To me, our focus needs to be striving to play our best cricket. And I think we are operating at about 60 to 70 percent (of our capacity) at the moment.
“So, I would not be even looking at the (league) table from a team perspective. I would be looking purely at how we are going to find that extra 30 to 40 per cent to play our perfect game.
“That needs to be our focus rather than looking at the outcome of where we finish in the table. I think we keep it very much in our own control. I think that thought process would put us in a good position come the end of the tournament.”
Looking ahead to Friday’s match against the Gulf Giants, whom the Vipers beat through a super over on Monday night, Moody said the squad and coaching staff were only too aware of the challenge the Giants posed.
“There are a lot of learnings from the first game that we played against them, and they are a strong side,” he. said. “In saying that, when I look at all the teams in this tournament, I think it is a very balanced tournament when you look at it purely on paper.
“The Giants are a threat, there is no question. (Pathum) Nissanka is a very fine player, so it will be interesting to see whether he is in a position to return to the team (after injury). I think he is a massive loss if that is the case, purely because of the form that he offers, the quality he provides and his impact in the power play.
“We know we need to manage risk against this opposition, but we also need to manage the conditions in Dubai. The exciting opportunity for us is getting back to Dubai and understanding exactly how we bowl and how we need to bat during the different phases of that contest.”
In this episode we chat with Director of Cricket Tom Moody who reflects on the campaign so far and looks ahead to the team’s next match, against the Gulf Giants, at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday the 12th of December, a 6.30pm start.
Tom talks about what’s pleased him and what hasn’t so far. There’s plenty of good stuff to look back on, of course, off the back of four wins from four matches but, as Tom tells us, there’s also plenty to improve upon.
Tom speaks about the return of Lockie Ferguson as captain after the fast bowler missed the first three matches of the tournament, he discusses the batting and bowling and also gives us an update on the fitness of Andries Gous, after the wicketkeeper-batter was forced to retire hurt in the most recent win, against MI Emirates in Abu Dhabi.
Andries’ replacement behind the stumps was Vriitya Aravind, and Tom discusses his role in the side, as well as conditions across the three venues.
In this episode we hear from fast bowler David Payne off the back of another thrilling match involving the Vipers – this time a one-run win against MI Emirates in Abu Dhabi.
David was player of the match after taking four for 29 as the Vipers defended 159, sealing the win off the final delivery as wicketkeeper Vriitya Aravind ran out AM Ghazanfar as he sought the run that would have taken the match to a super over.
It means the Vipers are top of the table with four wins from four matches.
The Desert Vipers continued their unbeaten run with a thrilling last ball one-run win over MI Emirates in Abu Dhabi. MI Emirates won the toss and chose to bowl, making it the first time in Season 4 that the Vipers were batting first, and they scored 159 for four. Max Holden top scored with 42 while Fakhar Zaman made a 31-ball 35 at the top of the order.
The MI Emirates looked in control of the chase for long periods before Player of the Match David Payne turned the match on its head with three wickets in the penultimate over.
It went down to the wire as MI Emirates needed 16 in the last over and Rashid Khan took the fight to the Vipers hitting a six off Khuzaima Bin Tanveer and then a four which went through keeper Vriitya Aravind’s legs.
But the young wicketkeeper sealed the win when he pulled off a sharp run-out off the final delivery.
The side’s record now reads: played four; won four.
Match Scores:
Toss: MI Emirates
Desert Vipers: 159/4 (20 overs)
Top scorer: Max Holden 42 (37 deliveries)
MI Emirates: 158/9 (20 overs)
Top scorer: Tom Banton 34 (29 deliveries)
Match Result: Desert Vipers won by one run
Player of the Match: David Payne 4/29
Here are quotes from player of the match David Payne:
On a second narrow win in successive days:
“We do not seem to make it that easy for ourselves, do we? (We have) good games for the neutral I guess you could say!
“I felt like, after my second over (which cost 15 runs) I needed to contribute to the game because I felt like I had let the boys down, so whether that was a catch or a piece of fielding I felt I needed to contribute there.
“So, to get the opportunity in the nineteenth over (was what I wanted). I was just trying to keep the plan simple and I was really pleased I could do something right at the end.
On whether he thought the Vipers total of 159 for four was a good score:
“I thought our batters played it really well. It would have been easy to have tried to go too hard and we could have been seven, eight or nine (wickets) down going into the backend of the innings.
“We kept wickets in hand and saw Hettie (Shimron Hetmyer) hit a few to boost our total and at halfway I thought we had given ourselves a really good chance (of winning).
On the last-ball run-out by wicketkeeper Vriitya Aravind that sealed the victory:
“What a moment at the end for (Vriitya) – he will remember that forever, I am sure.
“To be the man to hit the stumps with two to win (was exceptional). The amount of times I have seen that happen and the ball miss the stumps (is numerous). I think everyone thought that it was going to be a super over as a minimum so Vriitya was fantastic.
And what about the drama of that final over?
“That last over was a rollercoaster. They started it wanting 16 so we were feeling fairly confident at that point. Then to get it down to 12 off three (balls) and you’re probably thinking we had got it in the bag.
“But with players like Rashid Khan at the crease and the world-class players we have in this tournament, games are never over until they are over.
“I thought Khuzaima was brilliant because it was such a high pressure over for him to bowl and Rashid Khan is a handy player.
“Khuzzy had the shorter leg-side boundary to defend and that was exactly what Rashid was looking to target.
“Khuzzy did so well to hold his line and mix up his pace and that is exactly what he did with that last ball. I think everyone was expecting a yorker so for him to use his slower ball tricked everyone and probably led to the run-out.
On Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, who now has six wickets in four matches:
“I thought Khuzaima was brilliant last year. When I saw him bowl then I thought ‘Wow, this is a superstar in the making.’ He has improved on that this year and is bowling fantastically well. He is such an important part of our attack and today he put in a brilliant performance.”
On captain Lockie Ferguson’s first match of the season:
“I thought he did well in his first game back. All bowlers will know what it is like to come back from a long rehab. You do all you can in the nets but there is nothing like being out in the middle.
“I am sure his body will be sore tonight but I thought the skipper was fantastic – he always is – and he led the team brilliantly.”
The Desert Vipers next play the Gulf Giants on Friday, December 12th, starting at 6:30 pm.
Tickets for all Desert Vipers matches are now available here
The Desert Vipers have announced climate-financing specialists Vuelta Carbon as their Official Carbon Markets Supplier – with the goal of investing in climate action and offsetting 100 percent of the team’s emissions in Season 4 of the DP World ILT20.
Vuelta Carbon’s work in climate began over two decades ago, evolving from climate science to supporting direct action. They help individuals and corporates invest in green projects. Carbon markets offer the Net in Net Zero and the opportunity to tackle residual emissions, playing a significant role in protecting the planet.
The Desert Vipers have already succeeded in reducing their emissions by 19.5 percent when compared with Season 1, as was announced in the recent People and Planet Report.
This partnership with Vuelta Carbon will help further the franchise’s sustainability agenda by offsetting the entirety of emissions from Season 4.
To achieve this, the Desert Vipers will support projects across the UAE, India, and Saudi Arabia which offer technological and nature-based solutions to help reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and prevent the future release of greenhouse gases.
The Desert Vipers have previously invested in willow trees to offset emissions. The trees served a dual purpose, of capturing carbon while also ensuring a supply of cricket bats for the future generation.
This partnership with Vuelta Carbon will also help Desert Vipers on their mission of achieving Net Zero by 2040. Net Zero is a mandatory commitment for the Vipers as Dubai’s first signatory to the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework.
(To achieve Net Zero the team will need to achieve at least a 90 percent reduction in emissions, and the remaining 10 percent emissions can be offset through credits.)
Matt Bailey, Head of Strategy for the Desert Vipers, said: “We are delighted to partner with Vuelta Carbon as our Official Carbon Markets Supplier. We have been working hard to reduce our emissions, but we also recognise the need to use our platform to make positive strides at the same time and capture greenhouse gases that have already been released.
“By supporting a range of projects in cricket-playing nations, we hope to show how cricket can be a driving force in finding solutions that benefit people and planet.”
Lee Bostock, Co-Founder at Vuelta Carbon, added: “We are pleased to partner with the Desert Vipers as their Official Carbon Markets Supplier. Sustainability runs deeply through the franchise’s values, and their commitment to meaningful climate action sets an example for the sports community and beyond.
“At Vuelta Carbon, we look forward to supporting Desert Vipers on their journey, helping them reduce and remove emissions while inspiring fans, partners, and other organisations to accelerate their own pathways to a more sustainable future.”
This latest green collaboration comes ahead of the Desert Vipers’ annual Sustainability Match on December the 14th, where the franchise will once again calculate the carbon footprint of the match.
The Vipers are also tracking their entire season and are in fact the only cricket franchise to publicly declare their annual carbon footprint, having done so since the very first season of the DP World ILT20.
This transparency in carbon footprint reporting has laid the foundation for the team to understand how much offsetting is required.
The Desert Vipers take on the Dubai Capitals in their Sustainability Match on December the 14th, starting at 6:30 pm.
This time we reflect on a great result for the Vipers, who made it three wins from three starts in thrilling fashion against the Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Stadium.
The Vipers, set 180 to win by the Giants, reached 179 for nine to set up a super over, the first in the history of the tournament, and after Dan Lawrence and Shimron Hetmyer scored 13, Naseem Shah then bowled superbly to restrict the Giants to 9, meaning victory for the Vipers.
Coming up we hear from captain Sam Curran, who weighed in with 44 from 36 balls, as well as Dan Lawrence, the player of the match for a terrific innings of 56 from 31 deliveries.
The Desert Vipers became a part of DP World ILT20 history on Monday night, as they participated in and won the first ever super over of the tournament.
Set a target of 180 to win by the Gulf Giants, the Desert Vipers got off to a shaky start, and it was up to the middle order to balance the innings out. This was a role played ably by stand-in captain Sam Curran and Player of the Match Dan Lawrence. Curran scored 44 and Lawrence finished with 56.
And while this pair was unable to finish the job, the Vipers tail conspired to force a super over. For the Vipers, after Lawrence and Shimron Hetmyer had scored 13, that over was bowled by the very talented and highly skilled Naseem Shah.
The Pakistani fast bowler later said he had already been in the ice bath and begun cooling down as no one had imagined the possibility of additional action.
But Naseem did get back on the field with his team-mates and bowled a sensation over under high pressure to deliver for his team a successful outcome.
Match Scores:
Toss: Desert Vipers
Gulf Giants: 179/5 (20 overs)
Top scorer: Pathum Nissanka 56 (29 deliveries)
Desert Vipers: 179/9 (20 overs)
Top scorer: Dan Lawrence 56 (31 deliveries)
Match Result: Desert Vipers won through the super over.
Player of the Match: Dan Lawrence
Here are some quotes from the Vipers Voices post-match vodcast and podcast featuring Desert Vipers stand-in captain Sam Curran:
On the close finish and the Desert Vipers finishing on the winning side after the first ever super over in the DP World ILT20 :
“It is one of those games where we fell on the right side of it. But it is a really good sign, I think, for our team. I think we are still way off our best.
“I think those super overs have got to be quite tactical, I guess. We thought the left-right (combination) with Hetty (Shimron Hetmyer) and Dan (Lawrence) was the right option.
“We obviously did not know who they were going to bowl so it was a case of who was going to show their cards first.
“Dan had a beautiful strike (for six), and he scored a couple of twos. And I think a score of 13 or 14 is obviously a really good one. The wicket was a little bit on the slower side. And then Naseem was great. He held his nerve after a tough first ball. But what a game of cricket.
“What a great game for the tournament as well. And it is never nice losing those super overs. But to win, it is obviously a nice little feeling.
“I think we have still got a lot of areas of our game we want to get better. But to be sitting at three wins out of three obviously brings great confidence for the team and the environment. But we will be straight back into action tomorrow.”
On how the run chase of 180 to win became quite difficult after some early wickets were lost, and how he and Dan Lawrence had to step in and settle the innings:
“I guess it has been the trend of probably our last couple of games where we have lost a couple of wickets really early. So Dan and I decided to just try to consolidate for five or six overs and try and give ourselves a platform, which I thought we did.
“And then I guess when we got to that stage where we really needed to pull the trigger I got out, which was frustrating. And then Dan had a couple of nice hits again to get his 50 and then Hetty (Hetmyer) added a couple of nice strikes. It always felt like we were just one or two hits away.
“Khuzi (Khuzaima bin Tanveer) struck a lovely six, and Ritzy (Vriitya Aravind) got a couple of twos that were crucial to get us that super over. So those are the small things that help you win these games or tie these games.
“I did feel like we had done really well to get that close, I guess. And then a super over is a little bit of luck in a way. But I am not complaining.”
On Dan Lawrence’s Player of the Match-winning knock of 56:
“He is striking the ball lovely. He has been playing really well the last couple of seasons, especially even in the summer with me back at Surrey. He got a lovely hundred from memory and he just has been striking the ball really well.
“It looks like his game is in really good place and he is confident and he is obviously bowling really well as well, which is great for the side. And I think he used his smarts tonight, picking the big side, small side and picking his bowlers.
“And to get 50 off 30 on that wicket was a hell of a knock. He will be really pleased and hopefully it continues for us.”
On his own knock of 44:
“I have been a little bit scratchy the last few games, so when you get scores of 20s and 40s and when you are not feeling at your fluent best, these are good signs. I will take a bit of confidence from that.
“And hopefully again tomorrow night in Abu Dhabi, I can get going. I think we are three from three and the group is in a really good place, which is great because I do not actually feel like we are playing near our best at all.
“I think the coaching staff will agree and so will the players. So we will talk tonight, have a quick assess of where we can get better and turn around tomorrow”
On the team’s chances of doing well against MI Emirates in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday:
“I feel like this year the standard of players and the quality across all teams is good and everyone is getting used to the conditions.
“MI are always a quality outfit and we obviously have got a quick turnaround.
“So the plan is to get to bed, have a good feed and then focus on them in the morning. It is our first game at Abu Dhabi this season and it is normally a great wicket.
“So, hopefully we can play really well. But I think the best thing is we focus on ourselves. We are confident at the moment and fingers crossed we can win again and go four from four.
“It is a process to do that and we are really looking forward to the challenge.”
The Desert Vipers next play the MI Emirates at the Abu Dhabi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, December the 9th, starting at 6:30 pm.
Tickets for all Desert Vipers matches are now available here
The Desert Vipers have a secret weapon in their armoury, someone who does not bowl a ball, or spend a single second at the crease, and yet is central to the team’s performance and success.
Freddie Wilde is one of the best regarded analysts in the world, and he has been a part of the Desert Vipers cricket set-up since Season 1 of the DP World ILT20. His inputs have played a significant role in helping the franchise reach two of the three finals of the tournament so far.
Speaking to the Vipers Voices podcast the Head Analyst, who has also played a similar role for the England men’s white ball team, the Oval Invincibles and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League, lifted the veil on the role of an analyst in a team.
And Freddie said it was no longer about recording every ball or preparing video clips for the players.
“Generally now, the data is collected for you so I do not have to sit there and code the match. My job is to analyse the data that will then help in preparation for players.
“It could be helping our own players get better, what you can do to sort of stifle the opposition and sometimes it is fairly basic things like providing footage to a player of their bowling from a game.
“Other times it is slightly more complicated, like coming up with plans and then, more recently, there have obviously been auctions and drafts.”
“I have known our CEO Phil Oliver for a long time, and I have known Tom Moody from The Hundred as I worked with him at the Oval Invincibles.
“So, when they got involved at the Vipers, I was one of the early people they spoke to and I have been involved in helping to build the squads throughout all four seasons.
“This is actually the first season I am doing in full on site. I have done some work for the franchise remotely, as my other roles with other teams have often meant I was not able to be here, but this year I am and I am loving it.
“My work really starts with player recruitment, talking to Moods (Director of Cricket Tom Moody) and Fozzy (Head Coach James Foster) primarily about who we should retain from our previous squad or, if we are starting very much from scratch, who we want to sign.
“So, it begins at that recruitment stage and goes all the way through until after the season when I would probably complete a review and then there might be a few months of quiet downtime in between the two seasons before you get back stuck into it when you know retentions and the auction comes around again.”
In October the DP World ILT20 held its first ever player auction and Freddie Wilde was heavily involved in the process, even though he was not physically present.
“I was not actually there on the table – I was unable to attend – but I was online. My role was to identify targets, based on the retentions that we had made, and the direct signings that we had made. It was a case of what were the holes in our team, and where did we need backups.
“I created lists of different players who could fit in those roles. I talked to the coaches, looked at some data, some numbers, sometimes some footage, and tried to rank those lists.
“It was quite complex, to look at the order in which the players came out, and to decide whether to bid for them or not.
“On the day, I also kept track of what the other squads were doing, how much money they had left, and what slots they had to fill.
“For example, there could be a situation where everyone was in the market for a fast bowler, but as other teams started to sign their fast bowlers maybe the competition for that spot was diminishing and therefore, we could have been able to get our target. It meant I also had to stay across all of the other five teams (and what they were doing).”
Wilde said his services were not a one-size-fits-all for the players and support staff.
“There are some players who are very instinctive players who generally do not want, or even sometimes need, that information.
“It is actually part of their strength that they play the game in an instinctive manner and there is an argument that, if you were to provide information, it might be something that stifles that free-flowing way of playing.
“On the whole though, as an analyst, I would say the information that I provide I think can help and make players be able to perform better, whether that be a heads-up of the opposition or to improve their own game.
“At the same time, you have got to be careful about how you pass that (information) over because at the end of the day it is a game, those guys are out there playing, I have not played, and you know there are some things, there are nuances I suppose as an analyst, you cannot quite get to. But, more often than not, I think I have got information that can help.”
When asked about how closely an analyst is involved in team meetings and what role they play at those meetings Wilde said he offered information and then it was up to the players and staff to use that to build strategies.
“It depends on the different team environments,” he said. “There are some teams that have far fewer meetings, some teams that have more. Here at the Vipers we have small batting, pace bowling and spin bowling meetings in the lead into games and I am heavily involved in them.
“I provide quite a bit of information, information that I would have prepared on opposition players or the venue, and then it is more of a prompt for a discussion among the players.
“So, I am involved but it is kind of the stimulus rather than a key active participant. The players are then the ones who start discussing the information that I would have given them.”
Wilde also offered an insider’s view of his role on match day.
“On match day itself, often I will have a coffee with Fozzy and just make sure we are on the same page about a lot of the things we spoke about in the meetings before –if there are any last-minute changes to selection, maybe certain conditions or boundary dimensions might (have) changed our thinking around certain options (such as) who should start the first over, the second over, or structuring the power play. Those kind of finer details get talked about on match day.
“When you get to the ground it might be the coaches might look at the pitch and decide that things are slightly different and they might then ask me for some data on maybe batting first and bowling first and we might reconsider our toss decisions.
“It is tweaking things that we have already talked about rather than large scale changes because generally you should have made those decisions earlier.
“Once the match starts there would be conversations sometimes around batting orders. (For example) you might flip a right-hander and a left-hander for a certain match-up or when there is a timeout you might (pass on information that) this bowler could be a good option or a potential field change.
“I often sit just on the back row of the dugout with the coaches because it makes it easier for me to talk to them. So, it is smaller details on match day but then every edge is important.”
And the million-dollar question: how hard is it to stay on top of all the cricket games going on across the world, and how big is Freddie Wilde’s database?
“It is a very large database,” he said. “If there is any game of professional cricket played in the world now, it is logged, recorded and coded and put into the database.
“Thankfully it is not my job to do that, and I can imagine if it was, it would be impossible to do nowadays, because there is just so much cricket being played.
“With technology, it is something that a team of people work on and stay on top of. Everyday there are hundreds of games, and thousands of rows of ball-by-ball data coming into the database. You need quite powerful software to interrogate that. It is a difficult job to stay on top of all that.
“You have to choose which games are worth following and this is the busiest time in world cricket. Just staying on top of all the different games is difficult. There are ways to do that, you set up spreadsheets and some teams have apps to monitor player performance.”
