Peter Moor makes his own luck

If you want to understand patriotism, you need to meet the Moors. Dad's a lawyer, mom's a school teacher and among their brood of four are professionals in various disciplines including a sportsman. They are the kind of people who are skilled enough to find success anywhere but have chosen to stay at home in Zimbabwe, even as it lurches from one crisis to the next.

"All of my family lives here despite the troubles that the country has been through. We don't want to leave," Peter Moor tells ESPNcricinfo. "I am extremely patriotic and even if financially, this is not the best place to be a cricketer, I don't want to go somewhere else."

Especially not now, considering Moor is finally making it after years of trying to break into the international side. Having made his Test debut earlier this year, against New Zealand, now is an opportunity for him to build on his credentials against Sri Lanka at home.

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A product of the prestigious St John's College, Moor's talent as wicket-keeper batsman was recognised young. He was picked for the Zimbabwe Under-19 side as a 16-year old and represented them at two youth World Cups - in 2008 and 2010 - on either side of what is regarded as among the most chaotic periods in Zimbabwean cricket. They had withdrawn from Test cricket, were muddling through limited-overs formats and the general unease had dripped down to lower levels.

"In 2008, Zimbabwe cricket was in shambles and we were underprepared and out of our depth," Moor remembers. "When we got to the Under-19 World Cup, I remember seeing the other teams and being envious of the different kits they had, like the warm-up gear and the actual match shirts. We didn't seem to be on the same level."

Zimbabwe lost all three group games by more than 70 runs, lost the ninth place playoff quarter-final by 99 runs to Nepal. They won the 13th place playoff semi-final before being defeated in the 13th place playoff to Ireland. It's fair to say it was a disastrous tour for all including Moor, who played four matches and scored 59 runs.

Two years later, Zimbabwe had started to pull themselves together. They were attracting former internationals into the setup, begun to plan for a Test comeback and had the 2011 World Cup on their minds. At Moor's age-group level, things were looking up. "We had Kevin Curran as our coach and we were much better prepared. The important thing there was that we had the right selection. We didn't have hugely improved results but we had a better tournament."

At that event, Zimbabwe still suffered heavy defeats to New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland but beat the USA and Hong Kong to win the 13th place playoff. Moor had another average outing with 95 runs from five games, but returned home to a revamped domestic structure and a realistic possibility of turning cricket into a career.

He was contracted to the Harare-based Mashonaland Eagles and had his parents support in his sporting endeavours. "My dad was really happy that I was choosing cricket," he says.

But it proved more difficult to establish himself than Moor imagined. For the first few seasons, he was unable to secure a regular spot in the team and began to wonder if he had made the right decision. He went on club stints to Ireland and England and concluded that the northern scene, "wasn't for me." Although he doesn't go as far as saying he was homesick, he just "couldn't see myself spending a lot of time there."

Moor found his way in the 2013-14 season, when he moved to the Mid-West Rhinos, ushered by Grant Flower. "He was my biggest coach and mentor, someone I talked to a lot and admired a lot."

That season, Moor finished among the top 10 run-scorers in the Pro50 Championship . Even though his overall numbers were dominated by one century, he had made his mark. He was picked for Zimbabwe's ODI squad to tour Bangladesh later that year, an outing that proved anything but fun.

By the time Moor joined the touring party, Zimbabwe had lost the Test series 3-nil. He sat out the first two ODIs, which they also lost, played the next two, also as a member of the vanquished and was dropped for the final match. Zimbabwe returned home without a single victory.

It would be more than a year before Moor was given another look in.

In questioning himself again, Moor turned to cricket literature and immersed himself in biographies. He concluded his only option was to make his own luck. "The biggest frustration was the lack of opportunity. I told myself that when I do get the chance, I have to make the most of it and be hard on myself about that. I worked on being mentally tougher," he says.

Moor played for Zimbabwe A against Bangladesh A in November 2015 and scored two centuries in two first-class matches. Later that month, he scored another hundred in a first-class match. His form could not be ignored and, in the absence of Brendan Taylor who retired after the World Cup, Moor was picked for Zimbabwe's limited-overs series against Afghanistan in 2015-16. He scored two half-centuries and a 42 in five ODIs games and showed his ability to adjust between formats.

"The way I bat is maybe more suited to short-format cricket because I like to play my shots and know my boundary options well but I have learned to bat for longer periods of time as well," he says of his game.

He was only able to demonstrate the latter in August this year, when he was included in the Test squad to face New Zealand. Moor made his debut in the second match. There were tears when he received his cap from former Zimbabwe international Wayne James. His parents travelled from Harare to watch and he admitted to being "quite emotional," about taking the field in whites. Then, he managed to out those feeling aside and proved himself a composed cricketer.

With Zimbabwe 147 for 5 in response to New Zealand's 582 for four declared, they needed someone to helped Craig Ervine restore respectability and Moor answered . He scored 71 in a 148-run partnership with Ervine but was "not happy about getting out to a long hop after doing all the hard work."

His chance to change that will come. Moor is part of the squad that will play Sri Lanka in two Tests starting Saturday, their last before another lengthy break. While he is not sure whether he will also keep wickets, his focus is on the collective performance Zimbabwe can put on. "For us, it's really important to compete and do well and show we are not a walkover. Maybe that will encourage other teams to tour us," he says.

A triangular ODI series follows the Tests, which will be a chance to begin early preparations for the 2019 World Cup qualifier. For Zimbabwe, that tournament is as big as the World Cup itself. It is new coach Heath Streak's mandate to ensure Zimbabwe do not miss out on the showpiece event but Moor knows Streak cannot do it alone.

"It is everyone's dream to play in a World Cup and we are desperate to qualify. We will do everything we can to make sure we get there," he says. Moor also hopes that in trying to improve, Zimbabwe will be able to retain their best players. Though he won't say it, he is an example of what can happen when they do. "Zimbabwe definitely has a lot of talent but a lot of the guys leave before they reach the peak of their potential. Hopefully things come right soon."

If they do, Moor wants to be at the forefront, which is why he has stayed. "I'd like to play in T20 leagues but one of my biggest goals is to captain Zimbabwe. "Not now because I am not established enough but maybe one day." His family would want nothing else.