Born and educated in South Africa, Stephen Moore followed a familiar path to English cricket and progressed as far as winning selection for England Lions in 2009.

An opening batsman who is strong off the front foot, he first gave extended evidence of his talent as he topped 1,000 runs in the 2004 and 2005 seasons for Worcestershire before going through a less productive period. In 2009 he hit a hundred against the Australians but his overall season suffered as he was affected by Worcestershire's poor form and talk of potential moves elsewhere. Eventually it was confirmed that he would move to Lancashire.

His first season with his new county had mixed results. Although he managed two one-day hundreds he found it more difficult to make his mark in the Championship, where he made a modest 426 runs before a dislocated shoulder suffered in the field in the Friends Life T20 quarter-final against Essex at Chelmsford ended his season.

In his second season, he fared better, topping 1,000 first-class runs, the highlights of which were the unbeaten 124 that clinched a win over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge and the unbeaten 169 in the penultimate match against Hampshire at Liverpool. In 2012, Moore excelled in one-day cricket, scoring 581 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40, including a hundred and six half-centuries, and 249 in eight T20 matches, passing 50 three times. By contrast, his form against the red ball dipped and after averaging only 16.50 from 22 innings he lost his place in early August.
ESPNcricinfo staff