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We’re back ahead of season four, which gets underway on December the 2nd 2025, an earlier start than the three previous editions, which all took place in January and February.

And in this episode that marks the start of the build-up to the new season, we speak with Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody, a regular on the podcast.

Tom spoke after confirmation that the Vipers have retained seven players from the season three squad as the core to do battle for season four.

Those seven are captain Lockie Ferguson, vice-captain Sam Curran, who was player of the tournament in 2025, Max Holden and Khuzaima bin Tanveer, two break-out stars of the latest edition, Wanindu Hasaranga – who has been a Desert Viper since day one, Dan Lawrence and David Payne.

Additionally, the franchise has signed USA wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous, a player who previously played against the Vipers in season two, for the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, when he blitzed the bowling to provide an indicator of what he can do.

We talked with Tom about all these players and also some of the players who didn’t make the cut, but that wasn’t all.

We also discussed whether or not the Vipers will again mine a seam of Pakistan players for this edition, the likelihood of an auction and the selection process for UAE players, what the league’s new tie-up with Kuwait cricket means, what the change in timing for the tournament mean and plenty more.

It’s an engaging conversation with Tom, well worth your while, as ever.

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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.

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This episode is part one of a two-part wrap-up of the season. In part two we’ll chat with Director of Cricket Tom Moody, but this time we catch up with Vipers CEO Phil Oliver to paint the big picture for us on where the franchise is at after both an agonising loss in the 2025 final to the Dubai Capitals and also after three seasons of existence.

Topics Phil spoke about included the possibility of moving to three UAE players in any starting eleven for season four as opposed to the current mark of two, as well as the possibilities of expanding the league and even setting up a women’s tournament to go with the men.

Those topics, of course, are all about the future, but Phil also spoke about the here and now – the Vipers’ sustainability strategy and the fight for commercial dollars in a congested sponsorship market up against other franchises who, unlike the Vipers, have tentacles in other T20 leagues around the world.

Phil also covered future windows for the tournament, the possibility of a draft for the next season, whether the Vipers would continue to mine Pakistan for talent as a point of difference from the other teams and whether the Vipers’ owners, Lancer Capital are patient in the face of two near-misses in three seasons.

https://www.thedesertvipers.com
https://twitter.com/TheDesertVipers
https://www.instagram.com/thedesertvipers/
https://www.batforachance.org.uk/
https://theplasticpledge.com/
https://tickets.virginmegastore.me/ae/group/venue/50/desert-vipers?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAab9fx_-_nYuzYvHADezZlIcCDI_Q1-MgUVPSzZh33ngq5Qp5aBuOZSl_ic_aem_IooLlA6jU_qbtCFRjyV67Q