Henry Moore may have been one of England’s most foremost figures in the world of sculpture during the 20th century but the sportsman of the same name – born in Nottingham in 1861 – also played cricket for Newport CC and Monmouthshire, and, given his close links with football in the East Midlands, Henry was also the first English international to appear for a club and county team in Wales.
His fascinating sporting career began with a stint as a junior professional on the books of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club during the early 1880s and also as a footballer with Notts County with Henry playing with distinction at full-back for the East Midlands club and in February 1883 winning his first England cap against Ireland at Aigburth cricket ground in Liverpool.
A second followed suit in the match against England at Blackburn FC during 1885. It proved to be a pivotal year for Henry as during August he filled a vacancy, brought upon through injury at Newport CC. The Monmouthshire club had lost, through injury in late July, the services of John Flowers who shared the professionals berth at Newport with Henry Jupp, the former England and Surrey cricketer.
Jupp received 60 shillings per week for his coaching duties, whilst Flowers earned 50 shillings a week in his capacity as a professional bowler. Injury however struck him down during July so Henry was summoned from club cricket in the East Midlands and employed for four weeks by Newport at 50 shillings per week as a substitute for Flowers. Besides impressing with his bowling Henry proved that he was a capable top-order batsman and scored 126 for Newport against Swansea, in addition to 153 for Monmouthshire against Breconshire in the county match at Rodney Parade during August.
Henry returned to the Nottingham area at the end of the 1885 season and resumed his football career with Notts County. He retired for playing football in 1887 and, subsequently, focused on his cricketing career, as both a player and as a coach. In October 1890, through his Nottinghamshire colleagues, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury, Henry secured a three-year engagement as a coach and ground bowler with North Adelaide CC. He enjoyed something of a rough passage to South Australia aboard the SS Orizba and when the ship docked there were concerns that he had contracted typhoid fever during the voyage.
Henry was considered initially by the Adelaide club as something of a slogger, and was chosen for their 2nd XI. His work as a coach was well regarded and in January 1891 he made his debut for their 1st XI, although he blotted his copybook during the match against South Adelaide when he ran out Arthur Hill, the younger brother of Clem, the famed Australian Test player. Henry slightly atoned by hitting an impressive 40, but many consider the run out to have been instrumental in the narrow defeat by nine runs to the South.
The following season, 1891/92, he was something of a surprise call-up by South Australia for their match against Victoria. It was a game in which Henry made his first-class debut and was a match made famous by George Giffen scoring 271 before claiming sixteen wickets in the match. The South Australian captain claimed 9/96 in Victoria’s first innings before claiming 7/70 in the second, with Moore claiming the solitary wicket of Frank Laver after Victoria followed-on.
He duly returned to the UK at the end of the season, still with a year to run on his contract with North Adelaide. After a spell as a professional on Merseyside, Henry became the cricket professional and groundsman at Mill Hill and Highgate Schools. He died at his home in Sudbury on 24th November, 1939.
(with thanks to Peter Huxford and Geoff Sando for additional biographical information)