ILT20 2024: “Racing snake” Nathan Sowter makes the Desert Vipers his home

UAE, Dubai (Jan 9, 2024) For the second ILT20 season, the Desert Vipers will team up with Nathan Sowter, the leg-spinner that Tom Moody nicknamed “Racing Snake” because of his ability to snake about the outfield at a rapid speed.

Nathan, who played for The Oval Invincibles in the UK last year in the Hundred and won a winner’s medal at Lord’s, will collaborate with the Vipers Director of Cricket. Additionally, it appears like a wise signing given the player’s 2023 short-form cricket statistics.

During that glorious Hundred campaign, Nathan Sowter grabbed 11 wickets, which he shared with England international Adil Rashid for the most of any spinner in the competition. And he had already taken 24 wickets for Durham in the T20 Blast, making him the county’s clear top wicket-taker with an economy rate of just 6.73.

Nathan Sowter noted that Tom helped turn his career around when he thought it was about to go south. Now that he is ready for a spell with the Vipers, he can’t wait to work with him again.

In an interview with the Vipers Voices podcast, Nathan Sowter said, “Tom (Moody) has had a positive impact on me and has supported me over the last three seasons at the Oval (Invincibles).”

“I was a little bit of a water boy the first couple of seasons, but I did my job and bided my time until the last season, when we had an incredible year and lifted the trophy in August.” Tom supported me and was really confident in my abilities. I’m excited to be a part of another team he works with.

It is an amazing comeback for a player who believed his professional cricket career was over after Middlesex released him at the end of the 2022 season.

“I played the last three games and did quite well, so I went into the 2022 edition of The Hundred with not much game experience behind me,” he stated. It offered me a store window so that people could view me and decide, ‘He’s not awful.’

Since I am supporting my fiancé in her London-based profession, I had not been based in the northeast of England, so when I moved to Durham, they gave me a lot of flexibility with my training.

I complete all of my training in the south of England before traveling to Durham to complete my remaining tasks. You will hopefully witness the finest of that when I visit Dubai, because they have been extremely wonderful and have let me go a little.

“If that makes sense, I’ve just been free to play my own game and be happy for the past year.”

Making his thinking as simple as possible was the key, according to Nathan, to his success in short-form cricket in 2023.

He remarked, “Twenty20 cricket is pretty simple.” “I just try to keep it easy for myself; my plans are quite straightforward. They aim to knock you over the cow-corner or straight 95 percent of the time. When I bowl, I simply aim to hit the stumps and steer the ball as far away from left-handers as I can, and then proceed accordingly. While working with others who may have different ideas, such as spin bowling instructor Carl Crowe, can be beneficial, I find that my best achievements come from keeping things simple.

Furthermore, what about the moniker Tom Moody gave him? “I try to get involved and slither around the outfield pretty quickly, which is why Tom (Moody) calls me the racing snake,” he remarked.

“I put a lot of effort into fielding because I love it. I believe that as a child, I discovered the love of fielding, and I still enjoy walking around the house, tossing a tennis ball against the wall, and practicing catching balls. Sometimes, I don’t think my fiancé is too thrilled with the noise. But it’s the simple stuff, like pulling one-handeders off the wall, that keeps me sharp. That facilitates my ability to make amazing catches.

Many examples of Nathan’s expertise in the industry may be seen in online videos. At the ILT20, he will now be hoping to create another highlight reel.

The Desert Vipers’ opening game in the ILT20 is scheduled for Sunday, January 21, at Dubai International Stadium, against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. The ILT20 tournament begins on Friday, January 19.