Biography

Former Australian cricketer and Sri Lankan coach, Tom Moody played eight Tests and 76 ODIs for Australia. A tall and lanky all-rounder, Moody began his first-class career playing for Western Australia in the 1985/86 season. Aggressive in nature, he was a hard hitting batsman and a pretty useful medium pace bowler, along with a good slip fielder. He made his ODI debut against India in 1987 and after a couple of years, a decent Test debut saw him score 61 runs and pick up a wicket against New Zealand. He was promoted to open the batting in the Sri Lankan tour in 1992 which didn't work out and a string of poor scores brought about his exclusion from the Test team. Although his Test career didn't last long, he had a successful ODI career. Moody played an important role in Australia's World Cup win in 1999. He was also a part of the 1987 World Cup winning squad.

He contributed immensely to Western Australia and Worcestershire in the domestic circuit. Unluckily, persistent back problems meant that he had to retire in 2000/01. But his association with cricket continued as he served as the president of Australian cricketers' Association and the director of cricket at Worcestershire. In 2005, he was appointed coach of the Sri Lankan national team and had a splendid stint with them helping them reach the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup finals. Moody quit thereafter and returned home to coach Western Australia. After a three-year stint with the domestic team, he decided not to extend his contract. He also works as a cricket commentator. In December 2012, he was named coach of the newly reformed franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad formerly known as Deccan Chargers in the IPL.