PJ Moor

PJ Moor
Peter Joseph Moor (born 2 February 1991) is a Zimbabwean cricketer, who now plays for Ireland. He plays as a wicket-keeper batsman and is a former vice-captain for the Zimbabwe cricket team. Moor holds an Irish passport, and since 2021, he played cricket in Ireland with an aim to qualify to play for the Ireland cricket team. In June 2022, Moor was selected in an Ireland Development XI to play a four-day game against Gloucestershire 2nd XI. On 4 April 2023, Moor made his international debut for Ireland.
Biography
He pursued his education at St. John's College in Harare for which he also holds the highest individual score of unbeaten 214.
Domestic career
He found his range and mojo during the 2013-14 season when he joined the Mid West Rhinos where he was guided and mentored by former Zimbabwean international Grant Flower. He subsequently found success with Mid West Rhinos by emerging as one of the top ten runscorers during the.2013–14 Pro50 Championship. Following his impressive run at the 2013-14 Pro50 Championship, he was picked up in the Zimbabwean squad to face Bangladesh in a five match ODI series which began in November 2014.
In 2017, he was given full membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club after having met the playing requirements, graduating from a probationer since 2015. He was later named in the Marylebone Cricket Club squad for the 2018 MCC Tri-Nation Series where Nepal and the Netherlands played.
In December 2020, he was selected to play for the Tuskers in the 2020–21 Logan Cup. In April 2021, Cricket Ireland confirmed that Moor would be playing domestic cricket for Munster Reds during the summer of 2021. He replaced injured Tyrone Kane as the captain of Munster Reds for the remainder of the 2021 Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Trophy.
During the Irish winter, he returned to native Zimbabwe and played in the 2021-22 Pro50 Championship where he scored enough runs for him to be one of the top ten runscorers during the competition with 217 runs coming in 7 matches. He also played a crucial role in helping Mountaineers to claim the 2021–22 Pro50 Championship title where Mountaineers defeated Mashonaland Eagles in the final by 71 runs. He propelled Mountaineers total to 307/9 in 50 overs batting first in the final with a quickfire knock of 76 in 58 deliveries.
In May 2022, in the third match of the 2022 Inter-Provincial Cup, Moor scored 152 runs against the Leinster Lightning, the highest individual score in the Inter-Provincial Cup.
International career
Zimbabwe career
He also represented Zimbabwe at the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup and also at the 2010 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh on 26 November 2014. He made his Twenty20 International debut for Zimbabwe against Afghanistan on 8 January 2016. He was named in Zimbabwean squad for the 2016 ICC World Twenty20.
In July 2016, he was named in Zimbabwe's Test squad for their series against New Zealand. He made his Test debut in the second Test on 6 August 2016.
In June 2018, he was named in a Board XI team for warm-up fixtures ahead of the 2018 Zimbabwe Tri-Nation Series. He was also part of the Zimbabwean squad which played at the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier which was held in Zimbabwe where the hosts missed out on qualification by a whisker.
In February 2019, Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed that Moor would be the vice-captain of the national side across all three formats for the 2019–20 season.
His last international competitive match while representing Zimbabwe eventually came in October 2019 when he featured in a T20I match against Singapore during the final of the 2019–20 Singapore Tri-Nation Series which Zimbabwe eventually won by 8 wickets in a dazzling run chase of 168. He also registered his highest individual score in T20I career during his final appearance in Zimbabwe colours in that match by smashing an unbeaten 92 off just 60 deliveries ending up in a player of the match performance.
Captaincy
In April 2019, he was named captain of Zimbabwe's ODI team for their series against the United Arab Emirates, after their regular captain, Hamilton Masakadza, was ruled out of the tour due to injury.
Ireland career
In October 2019, he relocated to Dublin and joined the Clontarf Cricket Club in pursuit of better career prospects in cricket.
Moor qualified to play for Ireland in October 2022. In February 2023, Moor was named in the Irish Test squads for their tour of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He made his Test debut for Ireland against Bangladesh on 4 April 2023, after previously playing 8 Tests for Zimbabwe, becoming the 17th cricketer to represent two international teams in Tests.
He made his Ireland debut during the only test of Irish's leg of Bangladesh tour in April 2023 and it also marked his first return to international cricket in nearly four years since October 2019. He became the first Test cricketer to move away from Zimbabwe and to play for another country while John Traicos and Gary Ballance did the other way around having previously played for South Africa and England respectively before returning to play for Zimbabwe at international level.
References
External links
1991 births
Living people
Zimbabwean cricketers
Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers
Zimbabwe Twenty20 International cricketers
Zimbabwe Test cricketers
Zimbabwean ODI captains
Cricketers from Harare
Northerns (Zimbabwe) cricketers
Mashonaland Eagles cricketers
Mid West Rhinos cricketers
Zimbabwe Select XI cricketers
White Zimbabwean sportspeople
Munster Reds cricketers
Wicket-keepers
Zimbabwean emigrants to Ireland
Irish cricketers
Ireland Test cricketers
Dual international cricketers