STEPHEN Moore says that he is unsure when he will make a decision on his Worcester-shire future.
The wanted 27-year-old is mulling over a “fantastic” offer from the New Road clube as well as contracts from several other counties.
But the England-qualified South African-born opener admits it is one of the hardest decisions of his life and one that he has been thinking about for the past 12 months.
Moore, who is currently enjoying a fine campaign in the County Championship, is out of contract with the LVCC Division Two leaders at the end of the this term and plenty of questions have been raised about whether he will commit to Worcestershire or move elsewhere.
But he says none of this is about money. “It is not a monetary thing,” he said. “I've said that from the start.
“The contracts I’ve been offered by Worcestershire and everyone else have been fantastic.
“This is a very important decision I have to make,” added Moore.
“It is not one I can make lightly and so I need to consider all my options and have a good think about it and the most important thing is to have a good chat with my fiancée and work out what we want to do with our lives.
“It is not something I am going to make quickly or lightly and when I make that decision it will be a whole-hearted 100 per cent decision.”
Worcestershire have said that they will give him more time to make his mind up but they are not going to wait forever.
If Moore does decide his future lies away from New Road, director of cricket Steve Rhodes is going to need to make plans for next season.
Worcestershire are keen to know sooner rather than later, but Moore is refusing to put a time-scale on it.
“It is difficult, people are saying when are you going to put a date on this, put Sunday, Monday whatever — you can’t,” he said. “You will just wake up one day and you will know.
“When that day is, Bumpy will be the first to know and from there the rest of the club and you guys will know.”
Moore still harbours ambitions of breaking into the England set-up and, with the season that he is having in the four-day game this term, he must feel that he is starting to get the attention of the selectors.
With the likes of Middlesex, Surrey, Essex and Sussex in for him as well as Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Glam-organ he has certainly got the attention of people on the county circuit.
“I'll be 28 going into next season and I'm getting to that stage now where I know my game,” he said. “This is a period where I need to kick on and make sure I have a really good first class career. For all those reasons, this decision is not one I will make flippantly.
“I want to play for England. But I am not going to sit here and assume by just moving to another club I’ll suddenly play for England.
“I’ve got to do my job, make sure I score the runs and keep performing but I'd love to play for England. But I can't profess to know by moving to a Test ground that I'm suddenly going to play for England.
“I want to make sure that I give myself the best opportunity of trying to fulfil all my ambitions — I don't want to wake up one morning when I have finished playing and “what if?”
Meanwhile, Worcestershire's LVCC Division Two match with Derbyshire was abandoned as a draw on Saturday.
The visitors were set a target of 404 to beat the leaders, however, heavy rain on Saturday meant that no play was possible.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel