Cricketer Peter Joseph Moor has fond memories of his uncle Kevin Moor throwing balls for him to hit when he was young.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
A young Moor had made up his mind that he would also play cricket for Zimbabwe and captain the country during his career, which became his ultimate dream.
And he was certainly not short of role models: his uncle, father and brother are all cricketers.
His uncle Kevin, who is deaf, defied the odds and played cricket for the Zimbabwe Country Districts while his father Peter was also a decent cricketer, although he did not play at the highest level.
“My biggest dream is that I want to captain Zimbabwe…obviously to get a lot of Tests and ODI [One Day International], hundreds are other dreams but the biggest is to captain the team,” the 26-year-old wicketkeeper/ batsman told Sports World after his Rhinos side’s 131-run victory over Mountaineers at Kwekwe Sports Club in the last game of the domestic season.
“I have always dreamt of playing for Zimbabwe. I think I’m the most patriotic Zimbabwean there has ever been, so since I was a little boy it’s been something that I have always wanted to do,” Moor added.
A product of St John’s College in Harare, Moor’s talent as wicketkeeper/batsman was recognised at a young age.
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After progressing through the ranks of the Zimbabwe U-13s, U-14s, U-16s teams, Moor was picked for the Zimbabwe Under-19 side as a 16-year-old and represented the country at two youth World Cups — in 2008 and 2010 Since making his senior national team debut against Bangladesh in 2014, Moor has gone on to earn three Tests caps and 19 ODI caps for Zimbabwe.
After guiding Midlands Rhinos to a second place in the domestic Pro 50 Championship last week, Moor has an opportunity to cement his spot in the national team during national team’s upcoming tour of Scotland and Sri Lanka.
“Obviously, I am looking forward to cementing my place in all formats of the game in the national team and I don’t think I have done that yet. I think I am figuring out my game more. I went through a stage where I became a little bit negative.
“I was a bit worried about giving myself a chance to get in but this season on the domestic scene I have gone back to expressing myself more and I think it’s paying off,” he said.
Interestingly, most people did not think Moor was a Test player when he was much younger because of his batting style, but he seems to be doing better in Tests than ODIs with the bat.
“I love playing Test cricket even though a lot of people used to say I could only play T20s, and maybe ODIs because of my aggressive batting style. I think I have proved those doubters wrong in the few Tests I have had. Although I prefer Test cricket, it’s not everything for me; I also want to play ODIs and T20s and do well,” Moor said.
It was Moor’s hope that by the time he reached 20, he would have had a chance with the national team, but he had to wait until he was 23.
As a result of the frustration, he considered quitting the pursuit of cricket glory.
“After school you want to straight away be in the [national] team. I thought by the time I was 20 I would get my chance and I was 23 when I got my first game but it was good for me in the long run because it got me hungrier as a player.
“But it was not easy for me to wait for my time and at one time I weighed up my options. I weighed up my options because all my friends were already working and making more money than I was, so I had to fight the temptation to also go look for a job other than cricket. However, I don’t regret sticking it up with cricket now because I am living my dream,” Moor revealed.
Born in a family of four, Moor is the only one who doesn’t have a degree and it’s something he hopes to achieve once he concludes his cricket career.
“I have always wanted to have a degree and my whole family has degrees so I might have to pursue a law degree when I finish my cricket career. I understand that it’s going to be difficult when I am older,” he said.
Peter Moor fact file
Full name: Peter Joseph Moor Born: February 2 1991, Harare Age: 26 years Major teams: Zimbabwe, Marylebone Cricket Club, Mashonaland Eagles, Mid West Rhinos, Northerns (Zimbabwe), Surrey 2nd XI, Zimbabwe A, Zimbabwe Chairman’s XI, Zimbabwe President’s XI, Zimbabwe Under-19s Playing role: Middle-order batsman Batting style: Right-hand bat Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak Fielding position: Wicketkeeper Test Caps: 3 ODI Caps: 19 T20 Internationals caps: 8
