Moores warns promotion will be no easy ride for Notts

New head coach, former England chief Peter Moores, has warned that it won'˜t be an easy ride for Nottinghamshire CCC to go straight back up to the County Championship's top flight this coming season.
Peter Moores (second from right) with officials of the Bassetlaw Umpires Association, (from left) secretary and treasurer Gary Bardill, president and former Nottinghamshire captain Mike Smedley and chairman Ian Rich.Peter Moores (second from right) with officials of the Bassetlaw Umpires Association, (from left) secretary and treasurer Gary Bardill, president and former Nottinghamshire captain Mike Smedley and chairman Ian Rich.
Peter Moores (second from right) with officials of the Bassetlaw Umpires Association, (from left) secretary and treasurer Gary Bardill, president and former Nottinghamshire captain Mike Smedley and chairman Ian Rich.

Moores, who has taken the reins at Trent Bridge after replacing Mick Newell, was the guest speaker at the February meeting of the Bassetlaw Umpires Association.

And while most observers think Notts will cruise to promotion from Division Two after last season’s shock relegation, Moores warned it will take plenty of hard work to achieve that goal.

“There are a lot of good sides in the Second Division, and we will have to play well to achieve anything,” Moores said.

The 54-year-old was given a standing ovation at the end of his talk, which impressed all who were there. Pulling no punches, he detailed the highs and lows of his career, which have included winning two County Championship, First Division titles and two stints as England’s head coach before being controversially dismissed on each occasion.

Throughout his talk, the Macclesfield-born Moores paid homage to one attribute that no sportsman could succeed without -- belief. And he stressed his love for the game, which had been with him since he first got involved as a youngster and ended up securing a contract as a wicketkeeper/batsman for Worcestershire.

After two-and-a-half years there, he was released and went on to join Sussex, where he was appointed captain. He later became head coach and after winning promotion in 2001, he led Sussex to the first County Championship title in their history two years later.

Moores’s success at Hove led to his first England appointment before a stint as head coach at Lancashire, whom he guided to their first County Championship title for 77 years, making him the only coach in English cricket history to have landed the prize with two different clubs.