Cricket: Moises Henriques’ new approach earns call-up to the Australian ODI and T20 squad

Moises Henriques has stopped worrying about meeting other’s expectations and the 33-year-old is now in the Australian ODI and T20 squads.

Moises Henriques’ Big Bash form with the Sixers last summer and a big Sheffield Shield hundred have earned him a national call-up. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Moises Henriques has never shelved his national ambitions, but meeting the expectations of others has taken a back seat in his cricket world where just getting better is the aim.

It’s an attitude Henriques resolved to master after recent mental health battles and one that has paid dividends after his recall to the Australian white-ball squad to face India in three ODIs and three T20s.

The 33-year-old all-rounder, who played his last one-day game for Australia in 2017, thrust his name back in to the headlines earlier this month with an imperious innings of 167 for NSW in his first Sheffield Shield hitout against Queensland.

It was enough for questions to be asked about his Test ambitions, given national coach Justin Langer threw Henriques’ name into the ring before this year’s abandoned tour of Bangladesh.

But a white-ball recall has come first for Henriques, and national selector Trevor Hohns said his Big Bash form last summer was “impressive”.

Henriques revealed he rides the rollercoaster of a summer where selection questions come thick and fast with ease because of the way he now handles his life after visiting “dark places” when his own expectations overwhelmed him.

“I only started enjoying the game again in the last couple of years, post my speaking out,’” Henriques told the NCA NewsWire this week.

“It has been really refreshing for me to be back and I’m almost paying the game again like I was a kid, playing it because I love it rather than tyring to meet other people’s expectations or my own expectations.

“Once I stop worrying too much about what everyone else thought and exploring possibilities of how I cam improve in areas of my life and not being too hard if I don’t improve, those are the things that matter to me.”

JUST IN: Australia have named their limited-overs squad to face India #AUSvIND

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— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 29, 2020

Henriques has become something of a cricket leader in the area of mental health too and is a Movember ambassador, with this round of the Sheffield Shield to be Movember round.

He has found himself listening more and more to teammates and other players keen to ask questions too, given the COVID-19 landscape cricket is being played in.

“Especially given the topic and how much time has been spent trying to develop a really healthy formula of how to approach this season, everyone’s wellbeing,” he said.

“I’m very careful giving exact advice. What I went through will be completely different to each person that asks me a question. I do a bit more listening than talking and try and get a feel for what they are going through rather than spiting out answers to them.”

But while he likes to focus on helping others, his own desire to get better, and to play for Australia, has never wavered.

In this week’s episode of Behind the uniform podcast, Moises Henriques opens up about his ongoing battles with mental health, what helped him get through his darker days, and why seeking help was the best thing he ever did 🙌 @Mozzie21

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— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) September 17, 2020

Now, coming off a strong 2019/20 summer and opening with a big hundred, his efforts, both on and off the field, have been rewarded, and he could yet add to his 11 ODIs.

“There’s always some sort of expectation set upon some person, and it’s how that person tries to change that language to something where they have more control and enjoyment over their lives,” Henriques said.

“Even last year I had one of my better years for a while and the questions were coming then (about national selection). But it’s a really good opportunity for me to remind myself about the tools I use, and they are just other people’s questions, and I’ve got the values I want to work on and live by, and as long as I keep doing that, people can say or ask whatever they like and write whatever they like.

“I still want to be a better cricketer every day and play as well as I can play.

“In terms of wanting to play for Australia, of course that would be nice, but I know I can’t do that unless I keep improving. That’s my main aim.”

Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men‘s health on a global scale, focusing on mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.