Zim cricket star PJ Moor tight-lipped on Ireland links
AFTER continuously being overlooked for selection in the Zimbabwe national cricket team for more than a year and a half, wicketkeeper/batsman PJ Moor decided to turn down a central contract from Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) for a move to Ireland in April.
The 30-year-old joined the Irish provincial side Muster Reds fuelling speculation that he is eyeing a switch of international allegiance since he holds an Irish passport.
Although Moor has remained tight-lipped on his future in international cricket, he has been letting his cricket do the talking for him. The former Zimbabwe vicecaptain has settled well in Ireland’s domestic cricket scene and is already showing what the country is missing as he leads the scoring chart in the T20 competition.
Moor was in fine form for the Reds a fortnight ago after he struck an unbeaten 95 in 58 balls to hand his young side a big win over defending champions Leinster Lightning.
The Zimbabwean-born star, who was the stand-in captain, reached his half century in 38 balls and needed only 20 to score his next 45 runs, finishing with 10 fours and two sixes.
Reds won convincingly by seven wickets. And the Zimbabwean is currently the leading run scorer with 205, eight ahead of Leinster’s Simi Singh on 197, while William McClintock (Warriors) is third with 161 in six matches.
The Sports Hub caught up with the wicketkeeper/batsman where he reflected on his time in Ireland so far while he responded to rumours linking him to the Irish national team.
“No comment really on that mate,” said Moor when asked about the recent reports that he was considering an international career with Ireland.
He was, however, happy to talk about his achievements with the Chevrons.
“All I can confirm is I gave my all to Zimbabwe cricket for 12 years. I am the only player in history to have a 100% record as captain of Zimbabwe and I have the highest Test average in the country. (But) also Ireland (Cricket Ireland) haven’t spoken to me,” Moor said of his international cricket future.
Moor — who has represented Zimbabwe in eight Tests, 49 ODIs and 21 T20Is — has a Test average of 35.53 as well as a high score of 83.
He also recorded five half centuries in the longer version of the game. In ODIs, Moor boasts of four 50s while in T20is the player achieved a single half century, 92 not out, against Singapore in his last international for the country in October 2019.
Moor spoke about his experience in Ireland since he moved in April.
“I’m captain of Munster, one of the provinces here, and currently the leading run scorer in their domestic T20 competition. I scored 95 not out on Friday last week.
“It’s tough conditions here, completely different to Zimbabwe. So it took a while to adjust, but now I'm captaining a province (there are only four provinces) which is positive for me. Our team is the weakest in the competition on paper, but we have turned over all the teams,” he said.
But with provincial cricket taking a break in Ireland, Moor will in the meantime play club cricket in that country.
“Well, provincial cricket stops now until September. So I’ll go play club cricket now for a club called Clontarf. The reason being that South Africa and Zimbabwe are touring Ireland in July and August,” Moor said.
While Moor has not decided on his international future, it certainly appears like his chapter with Zimbabwe is all but over.
Interestingly, barely two years ago Moors sounded like he had a long future with Zimbabwe cricket following the country's suspension from International Cricket Council (ICC) almost two years ago.
“Ever since I was a little boy, all I wanted to do was play for my country. I feel like the mat has been swept out from under my feet because I was on the cusp of becoming a senior player in the side.
“I had just been made vice-captain and was starting to mature as a player and understand my game better. I’m very patriotic and passionate about Zimbabwe also, which makes this ICC ruling even harder to take. It’s a very sad time for me,” he told CricTracker.
But ever since the lifting of the suspension, Moor was continually overlooked by the Zimbabwe selectors.