Stephen Moore signs to fill key void for Derbyshire

FILE PHOTO: Stephen Moore

The signing of South African-born former England Lion Stephen Moore, announced today on the chairman’s Twitter feed, is one that should make a considerable contribution to our fortunes in the coming season.
It was patently obvious last year that we lacked experience at the top of the order, a player who had seen the varying situations that first-class cricket had to offer and had handled them well.

Such a player is Stephen Moore.

Critics will say that he wasn’t a regular in Lancashire’s side, but with their first choice batting line-up, that was no disgrace. He continued to prove himself a very dangerous batsman in the one-day game, playing a savage hand at Old Trafford against us in the T20, but he is far from a one-trick pony.

Moore came close to England recognition at one point in his career and is a powerful stroke player with a wide range of shots that he is unafraid to play. A first-class average of around 37 is impressive and indicative of talent, while maintaining one-day equivalents of just over and under the thirty mark in List A and T20 cricket highlights a cricketer with a sound all-round aptitude for batting.

Crucially, he will give our innings a start that will both move the score along and provide valuable help to whoever from the young trio of Chesney Hughes, Paul Borrington and Ben Slater who earns the right to partner him.

He is an intelligent man who could easily have left the game for a business career, but he will be keen, no doubt, to do so on his terms and with another season or two of personal and team success under his belt. His signing is a sound one and having advocated the merits of his signing a time or two over the past few months, I am delighted to see that it has come to pass.

It gives us a solid-looking batting lineup for next year, with a number of options in the top six.

Good business? Yeah, for sure.