Moores lends England a helping hand

Peter Moores is eager to put his experience with England to good use at Lancashire

Peter Moores may no longer be England coach, but he hopes to play an important role in the success of the national side during his time in charge at Lancashire.

He was unveiled as the new head coach at Old Trafford yesterday, less than six weeks after he left the England set-up.

While Moores admitted it was hard to come to terms with losing his job following an “irretrievable breakdown” in communication with the then captain Kevin Pietersen, he is keen to build a successful Lancashire team built around players pushing for international honours.

“Lancashire are in the business of trying to produce England players. That came through strongly for me from the interview process - from Mike and Jim,” Moores said, referring to the club philosophy outlined by director of cricket Mike Watkinson and chief executive Jim Cumbes.

“That, to me, is shown by the amount of Lancastrians on the staff; it’s shown by the way they go about producing them.

“You’re going to communicate to the England coach or selector what’s happening internally within your set-up – with younger players to keep an eye on and with players pushing for a place.

“If they’re playing well, I’m going to shout their cause because county cricket is about winning at county level but also about trying to produce players that can go on and play for England.”

Moores succeeded Duncan Fletcher as England head coach two years ago, having forged his reputation at Sussex – whom he led to their first County Championship title in 2003 – and as director of the ECB national academy at Loughborough.

The 46-year-old, who admitted he is unlikely to see much of Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson at Lancashire due to England commitments, remains eager to pass on his experience at the highest level to the remainder of the squad.

Moores is relishing planning the way forward with Glen Chapple, the new captain

“Having been in that set-up for a couple of years, for the players I can tell them quite a lot about what they need up there,” he added. “Then the challenge is: can you get those skills to go there.

“It’s nice to experience that, to be able to bring that back, and try and help players work towards getting over that step.

“So if they do get lucky enough to be in there, they’ve got the right skills to survive and play well.”

Moores’ appointment completes a revamped coaching structure at Lancashire, Watkinson having taken on the newly-created role of director of cricket late last year.

With Glen Chapple assuming the captaincy this summer from Stuart Law, who was released at the end of last season along with former England all-rounder Dominic Cork, the winds of change are certainly blowing through an Old Trafford ground which is undergoing redevelopment work.

“The exciting thing is it’s got a fresh feel about it,” said Moores. “It has all happened very quickly, so I need to sit down with Glen and get his views.

“I’ve had a chance to speak to Jim and Mike, but I ned to get a feel for where the club’s at, at the moment.

“The club has got a lot of young players, a lot of local Lancastrians. The question is can we mould them into a team that can go out and be successful.

“We all know we’re all in the business of winning, but it doesn’t come easy - you’ve got to work extremely hard at it and you need a bit of luck as well. That’s part of the fun.

“The key is to make sure internally that we’re clear about what we’re going for, stick to our guns and work for that. If we do, we’ll get there.”