Lisbon, Aug 13 (IANS) Former Australia all-rounder Moises Henriques has described helping his birth nation Portugal qualify for their maiden men’s T20 World Cup as the ultimate ‘nirvana’ at the twilight of his playing career.

Henriques, 39, represented Australia in four Tests, 16 ODIs, and 24 T20Is between 2009 and 2021. After retiring from Australian cricket, he switched allegiances to Portugal. He will captain the side at a European sub-regional qualifying tournament starting in Finland on Friday.

Portugal, ranked 37th globally, are placed in Group B alongside the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, and Israel. Inspired by Italy’s recent qualification for their debut T20 World Cup, Henriques believes Portugal can follow a similar pathway.

“Obviously, the ideal, the nirvana, would be to replicate what Italy have done. Whether that’s realistic for this World Cup, or the following, I don’t know. We’ll only be able to tell in a couple of games. I’m sure there’s a lot of opposition that feel that they might be able to do something similar,” Henriques told the BBC Stumped podcast on Thursday.

Born in Funchal on the island of Madeira, Henriques moved to Sydney with his family when he was two. Reflecting on his childhood, he shared how the sport helped him integrate into Australian culture.

“Moises isn’t the most common name going around in an Australian school, especially at that time. I had a few issues at school early on. I didn’t speak English that well. Cricket gave me that little bit of confidence I probably needed as a kid to feel a part of something.”

Having reconnected with his roots during a visit to Madeira last year, Henriques feels a deep emotional connection to his new assignment.

“When I played for Australia, my family also felt I was representing them as well. I’m representing the motherland, so to speak, and it’s going to feel somewhat similar. Hopefully we can make a positive impact trying to grow the sport in Portugal and probably Europe more broadly as well.”

Henriques admitted he was pleasantly surprised by the standard of his new squad, which includes former South Africa A batter Cameron Shekleton and former New Zealand Under-19 captain Craig Cachopa.

“I was quietly and pleasantly surprised with the quality of cricketers that we’ve got in the team. There’s 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.”

However, returning to international cricket comes with unique physical hurdles, including adapting to synthetic tracks after undergoing back surgery five months ago. “It would be 25 years since I’ve actually played a game of cricket on a synthetic wicket.

“I’m coming out of back surgery about five months ago, so the biggest challenge bowling will be landing on a synthetic wicket after coming off a full run-up. Obviously we train a lot indoors on synthetic wickets, so hopefully I can make the adjustment,” concluded Henriques.

–IANS

nr/bsk/