1941-2010 – Former Nottinghamshire batsman, who defied the 1964 Australians and inspired his home county’s best win. By Duncan Hamilton
The defining decision of Ian Moore’s career was made on a humid, slightly damp June morning at Swansea in 1974. As captain of his home county, Lincolnshire, he shrewdly ignored WG Grace’s rule about always batting first. What happened next is still talked about with a satisfied glow – at least in Lincolnshire.
Shortly before lunch Glamorgan had slithered to 59 for 8. Only a ninth-wicket partnership between Malcolm Nash and Tony Cordle gave a veneer of respectability to a total of 155. Lincolnshire, after a wobble of their own, reached the second round of the Gillette Cup by six wickets and with seven overs to spare. It epitomised Moore’s “adventurous” spirit, according to Martin Maslin, who was man of the match with 3 for 29 and 62 not out. “We were a disparate lot,” says Maslin, “but all of us looked up to Ian. He was never flustered.”
Moore was also intensely competitive, possessed a scrupulous sense of fair play and a passionate desire to uphold the spirit and decorum of the game. In particular, he was dismayed by batsmen who refused to walk.
Born in Sleaford, Moore spent eight summers with Nottinghamshire between 1962 and 1969, a period sandwiched by his time with Lincolnshire. As a middle-order batsman he made seven centuries for Notts. Most admired of them was the unbeaten 108 which frustrated Bobby Simpson’s 1964 Australians, lasting five hours and 50 minutes. The obduracy of the bespectacled Moore – later one of the first professionals to switch to contacts – saved the match. The “denizens of the pavilion stood to receive him,” noted The Times. Tourists came easily to Moore: in 1967 he hit 206 not out against the spin of India’s Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan.
Moore’s final season with the bat was in 1984. After buying a house opposite Macclesfield’s ground, the temptation to play for them was impossible to resist. He topped the Cheshire League’s averages with 1,164 runs at more than 76.
Elsewhere Moore became a director of the Cheshire Building Society, which he joined in 1978. From 1996 he devoted himself to the NSPCC for which he raised almost £55,000 in 10 years and received a posthumous award. In spite of three hip replacements – a fourth followed last winter – he managed to play off a six handicap, a fact underscoring tenacity as well as talent.
Career record M R HS Avge 100s 50s W Best Avge 5w CT
First-class 177 6765 206* 25.05 7 31 5 2-37 28.80 0 106
One-day 24 321 31 16.05 0 0 1 1-4 38.00 0 5
Harry Ian Moore was born on February 28, 1941 and died on February 16, 2010, aged 68.