Henriques chasing ‘cricket nirvana’ with Portugal

Moises Henriques has switched allegiances to Portugal and will captain the team at a European sub-regional qualifying tournament in Finland from August 14 to 20. The 39-year-old was born in Funchal on the island of Madeira and arrived in Australia aged two when his father Alvaro decided to move the family to Sydney. Alvaro had played second division football in Portugal before taking a job working in a warehouse, where he remains employed today.

Henriques represented Australia in four Tests, 16 ODIs and 24 T20 internationals between 2009 and 2021 before retiring from Australian domestic cricket last month after the Sydney Sixers opted not to offer him a new contract. He also captained Australia at the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2006.

Speaking to the BBC Stumped podcast, Henriques explained his connection to Portugal and his ambitions with the national team.

“Helping Portugal qualify for their first-ever men’s T20 World Cup would be cricket nirvana at the twilight of his playing career,” Henriques was quoted as saying by BBC.

He added that he “didn’t even know Portugal had a cricket team” until five years ago but has been impressed by the quality of their squad.

Portugal will face Israel, Germany, Greece and the Czech Republic in Group B of the tournament. The group winners will advance to the final, with the overall winner progressing to the European regional final alongside Scotland, Jersey and Denmark. The event features 10 teams, with the tournament winner progressing through to the regional final as they pursue qualification for the 2028 Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Portugal is ranked 37th in the world.

Henriques joked about the prospect of success with Portugal, referencing Madeira’s most famous son. Cristiano Ronaldo is from the island, and Madeira renamed its airport in honour of the Portuguese football star. Henriques said he “might get a helipad named after him, if he can skipper Portugal to the World Cup.”

“Hopefully we can make a positive impact trying to grow the sport in Portugal and probably Europe more broadly as well,” Henriques continued.

Portugal’s World Cup qualifying path and squad strength

Henriques was pleasantly surprised by the standard of cricketers available for selection.

“I was quietly and pleasantly surprised with the quality of cricketers that we’ve got in the team. There are a lot of high-level cricketers going around, which I probably wasn’t expecting a few years ago when I first started entertaining the thought of playing,” he continued.

The challenge of artificial surfaces and recovery from surgery

Portugal’s squad includes Craig Cachopa, the former Sussex, Auckland and Wellington keeper-batter; Cameron Shekleton, who has played for South Africa A; Sebastian de Oliveira, who once played a List A game for Gauteng; and Siraj Ullah Khadem, the Bangladesh-born spinner who was part of the longlist for the Hundred auction this year. Henriques takes over from Carlos Nunes, who captains Twickenham in the Middlesex County Cricket League in England. Nunes remains part of the 14-member squad.

The Finland tournament will present a unique challenge for Henriques, who has a contract with Glasgow Cosmic in the inaugural season of the European T20 Premier League. He revealed that he will play on an artificial pitch for the first time in 25 years.