The Nottinghamshire duo of Ben Slater and Tom Moores have been awarded their County Caps by the club.
The pair were bestowed the honour on the Trent Bridge outfield shortly before the LV= Insurance County Championship fixture against Worcestershire.
“Receiving a cap is a significant achievement,” said Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell. “It’s there for people to aspire to and is not automatically given unless you have played Test cricket for your country.
“Making your debut is very special, but to be awarded a cap at the discretion of the club, to reward you for your performances in the first team, is an equally significant day. It’s up there as a memento of your career.
“Ben and Tom have shown significant improvements over the last year and a half. They have established themselves in the first team, contributed to victories and produced match winning performances in different competitions.
“They deserve their cap and it’s great that – with spectators being admitted to this game – some of their family members got to be there and share the moment as well.”
Slater joined the Green and Golds shortly before the end of the 2018 season, and has since averaged 36.32 at the top of the order in First-Class cricket for the club.
The left-hander was the recipient of Nottinghamshire’s red ball player of the year award in 2020 and has enjoyed a rich vein of form during the 2021 season so far, garnering 384 runs in five matches, with a mean score of 48 and two centuries.
Slater, who also averaged 78.75 across four appearances in List A cricket in 2019, was presented with his County Cap by the club’s 2005 County Championship title winning opening batsman, Darren Bicknell.
Moores has been a multi-format mainstay of the Nottinghamshire side since Chris Read’s retirement at the conclusion of the 2017 season, collecting 42 First-Class appearances; amassing 111 dismissals and posting two centuries.
In 54 T20 outings for the Outlaws, Moores has averaged 28.16 at a strike rate of 141 with the bat, helping his side take the trophy on two occasions.
Also averaging 38.85 in 16 List A games, Moores has collected 53 dismissals for the club in white ball cricket.
His catch to dismiss Surrey’s Jamie Overton, diving full length and taking the ball one handed high above his head, created the freeze frame moment of his side’s 2020 Vitality Blast Finals Day triumph.
Read, the man who preceded Moores as Trent Bridge’s talismanic gloveman, made the presentation to the man he mentored early in his career.
“The capping system has always been a big thing,” added Nottinghamshire Head Coach Peter Moores.
“It’s recognition of having progressed from being an emerging player in the team to an established cricketer who is making a real difference.
“Being capped connects you to the great history of players who have represented Nottinghamshire in the past, which is a great honour, and it’s also a significant accolade because it’s born out of performance.
“It feels right that it’s happened on the first day of welcoming our members and supporters back in, so they got to share in the moment as well.
“The journey in professional sport never stops and I’m looking forward to seeing what both players can achieve in the years to come.”
From the current Nottinghamshire squad, Slater and Moores join Jake Ball, Stuart Broad, Ben Duckett, Luke Fletcher, Alex Hales, Haseeb Hameed, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel and Dane Paterson as capped players.