UAE ILT20: Sam Billings, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Sheldon Cottrell have been signed by the Desert Vipers of the UAE’s International League T20 franchise as its international players for the competition’s upcoming debut season.
Additionally, the Desert Vipers hired former England wicketkeeper-batter James Foster and former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody to serve as head coach and director of cricket, respectively.
The Oval Invincibles in the Hundred is led by Billings while Cottrell will make his injury comeback for St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the 2018 CPL. Along with their English colleague Alex Hales, who recently crossed 10,000 T20 runs, Tom Curran, and Ben Duckett will be at Vipers. The Vipers’ Associate selections were Nepal legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane and Namibian left-arm seamer Ruben Trumpelmann.
Moody has held a number of prominent T20 cricket positions, including the director of cricket, head coach, and director of cricket for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and the CPL, respectively. Before joining the Sunrisers in 2013, Moody had previously coached the Punjab franchise in the IPL from 2008 to 2010. Moody coached Sri Lanka between 2005 and 2007 in international cricket, a period during which the team enjoyed significant Test cricket success and finished second in the World Cup.
Foster, meanwhile, is one of England’s most promising coaches and is currently in charge of the men’s team for the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred. Foster has participated in a number of franchise cricket tournaments since concluding his playing career in 2018, including the IPL, PSL, CPL, BBL, and BPL. Foster has also served as a cricketing international consultant for England and the Netherlands.
Talking about opportunity, Moody said, “I’m honored to lead the cricket operations of Desert Vipers in what promises to be an entertaining and high-quality tournament. We have assembled an excellent mix of youth and experience in a highly skilled squad and I warmly welcome our players from all over the world in what is truly an international event.”
The Vipers franchise represents Lancer Capital’s entry into cricket. They are also the owners of the Super Bowl-bound Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Manchester United football team.
The ILT20 will debut in January of the following year. However, the six-team competition’s first season is scheduled to overlap with the BBL in Australia, the BPL in Bangladesh, and the T20 league in South Africa.
Desert Vipers squad so far:
Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka), Sam Billings (England), Alex Hales (England), Colin Munro (New Zealand), Tom Curran (England), Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), Ruben Trumpelmann (Namibia), Saqib Mahmood (England), Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies), Ben Duckett (England), Benny Howell (England), Sheldon Cottrell (West Indies), Azam Khan (Pakistan)
