England cricketers Sam Curran and Phil Salt are scheduled to join the Desert Vipers at the end of this season’s International League T20.
The two will replace Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, and Azam Khan, who have all left the Vipers ahead of the commencement of the Pakistan Super League, while Wanindu Hasaranga has returned to Sri Lanka for international duty.
Curran and Salt are both coming to Dubai after playing in the SA20 league in South Africa – Phil for Pretoria Capitals and Sam for MI Cape Town – and will bring great short-form cricket resumes.
Curran was named player of the tournament after England won the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022, ending as the equal second-highest wicket-taker, tied with new Vipers teammate Bas de Leede and trailing only Hasaranga, who took 15.
Sam, England’s sixth highest wicket-taker in men’s Twenty20 Internationals, signed with Indian Premier League team Punjab Kings in late 2022.
Phil also has Indian Premier League experience, having played for the Delhi Capitals in 2023, and in December of last year, he lit up the cricketing world with two centuries during England’s five-match Twenty20 International series against the West Indies in the Caribbean.
The right-hander, who is also a noted wicketkeeper, has a batting strike rate of 165.97 in Twenty20 Internationals and, like Sam, was a member of England’s winning T20 World Cup side in 2022.
Phil will be the Vipers’ second wildcard selection for the 2023 DP World ILT20, following fellow England hitter Dan Lawrence.
The wildcard is a new feature for this season, allowing each franchise to select two wildcard players, bringing the squad maximum to 24 players and increasing the spending purse limit by US$250,000. Wildcard players can be added by teams at any point throughout the competition, but once framed, they cannot be replaced.
Commenting on the signings, Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody said: “We are delighted to welcome Sam and Phil to the Vipers squad. Both players are proven international performers with exceptional Twenty20 records and they will add an extra dimension to our team. I know Sam extremely well having worked with him for the Oval Invincibles at The Hundred and I know the quality he offers with bat, ball and in the field. He loves to be involved in big games at important times and that is the sort of attitude we want from our players.”
“Phil has developed into one of the most exciting players in world cricket at the top of the order, as he showed in the Caribbean with England in December, and he is also an excellent wicketkeeper and so provides us with options in that regard. We are grateful for the efforts of Shaheen, Azam, Shadab and Wanindu during their time with the Vipers this season. All four of them were fantastic around the squad, offering us so much on and off the field. They were terrific team players and it was a joy to have them with us,” he added.
“It is now time for us to focus on two big matches to come, on Friday against the Dubai Capitals and on Sunday against the Sharjah Warriors, with the reward of a place in the play-offs if we win them. We have had a break after a very intense period of matches, and now is the time for us to produce the form we know we are capable of,” Moody concluded.
