England team-mates Sam Curran and Phil Salt have a tough assignment ahead of them, having joined the Desert Vipers camp straight from South Africa’s SA20 league, and being asked to help the team achieve their goal of two wins from two games in order to secure their place in the next stage of the DP World ILT20.
But the positive is that both players have a wealth of experience in leagues around the world, apart from representing England at the highest level, and that means they are focused but relaxed about the task that lies ahead.
Speaking to the Vipers Voices podcast Phil Salt said it was all part of being an international cricketer: “As professional sportsmen that challenge (of coming in to the tournament and knowing the team needs to win its final two group games) is something we look forward to.
“One of the pitfalls is you come (into the team) and want to shoot the lights out in two games and show everybody how good you are.
“But the real skill is in this situation, where we have to win two from two, is to not change anything, and to come in and be yourself and do what you know you can do and try and perform to the best of your ability. And if you do that hopefully the outcome will take care of itself.”
Sam Curran had a similar view but said he would not be piling on any pressure on himself as that could be detrimental to the Vipers’ cause: “I think that (the situation where the team needs to win final two group games to qualify for the next stage) was part of why I found it so exciting to come to the Vipers,” he said.
“Having looked at the points table and having chatted with Tom Moody and James Foster, the aim is to try and win two from two, but we will try and focus on our first game on Friday.
“We want to come in and make an impact, of course, but we will not put pressure on ourselves. It is about getting ourselves into the tournament and filling those gaps that hopefully the team needed, and fingers crossed we sit here in three or four days having qualified for the knockouts.
“It is exciting and we like playing group games that have got a lot more on them, and fingers crossed we start with a win.”
With a new team, new conditions, and a tournament that is past the halfway mark, both Phil Salt and Tom Curran acknowledged it was a challenging scenario.
Phil Salt said: “I know a couple of guys who also flew in from the South African league and had to play a game straight away. We are quite lucky that we have got two training sessions before our first game, and we have got the chance to get ready.
“It can be a bit more of a challenge when you come in from somewhere else slightly under-prepared with regard to the local conditions. It all depends on the schedule, but it is becoming tougher and tougher as a player to manage your year and manage your own performance at times. We are lucky to have these two days before the first game.”
Sam Curran added that what helped him choose to take up the offer with the Vipers was that the team and coaching staff featured a lot of familiar faces: “My decision to come to this franchise was because I know quite a lot of people on this team.
“Azhar Mahmood is my bowling coach at Surrey, Tom Moody was the Oval Invincibles coach (in The Hundred) and a lot of England team mates are also on this squad, so it was a no-brainer for me (to join the Vipers). It is also good we have a couple of training sessions to prepare and meet the team and guys we do not really know, so I am not too worried.”
Sam Curran comes into the Vipers squad that is missing the services of his brother Tom Curran due to injury and Sam provided an update when he said: “He (Tom Curran) is doing well. He was gutted not to be here, and he was someone I spoke to about coming here.
“He obviously said great things about the franchise. He left the Big Bash League early to sort out his injury. I speak to him regularly and he is recovering well, and fingers crossed he will be back on the park soon.”
Tickets for the Vipers’ final matches of the regular season are available via the DP World ILT20 website and at any Virgin Megastore across the UAE.
