Desert Vipers


The Desert Vipers is a professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that plays in the Emirati International League T20. It was one of six teams that were announced for the inaugural season ; it was founded in 2022 and is owned by Lancer Capital LLC.
The team's chief executive officer is Phil Oliver; the cricket director is Tom Moody. The team is coached by James Foster and captained by Lockie Ferguson. The Vipers were runners-up in the inaugural season of the tournament, finished 5th in Season 2, were runners-up again in Season 3, and finally the champions in Season 4.

History

In August 2022, the Emirates Cricket Board announced the establishment of the International League T20, to be started in 2023. The teams for the competition, representing three different cities of the United Arab Emirates, and three general teams which were not tied exclusively to one city, were put up for auction in the UAE in September 2022. The franchise was purchased by Manchester United FC CEO Avram Glazer. The team unveiled their name Desert Vipers, logo and jersey in January 2023, through their social media handles.

Current squad

  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.

    Statistics

Season summary

Administration and support staff

  • Source

    Sustainability

The Desert Vipers became the first cricket franchise in the world to make their full season carbon footprint public, when they published their Season 1 footprint of 573 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2023. In Season 2, they hosted their first 'Sustainability Match', which aimed to celebrate their achievements to date and trial new sustainability initiatives. They are Dubai's first signatory to the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework, and they have committed to Net Zero by 2040.
In Season 4 they unveiled a green playing kit as a sign of commitment to their sustainability values.