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Moises Henriques
has been given free rein to bat in his natural aggressive style when he
becomes Australia's 432nd Test cricketer on Friday in Chennai.
Henriques won the battle for the allrounder's position for the first
Test against India, beating offspinner Glenn Maxwell for the role after
impressive performances with both bat and ball during Australia's two
warm-up games over the past eight days.
Australia on Wednesday confirmed their XI and whereas India are expected
to play as many as three slow bowler, Australia included only one
specialist spinner, Nathan Lyon, alongside a four-man pace group made up
of Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Henriques. Maxwell
will be the 12th man while Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Johnson, Jackson
Bird, Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith were also overlooked.
Australia's selectors are hoping Henriques can have the same effect on
the dry pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium that he did at the Guru
Nanak Ground for the tour matches, where he found reverse swing and hit
the right lengths better than any of his fellow pace bowlers. Henriques,
26, collected 4 for 12 in the first game, including two of the top four
batsmen.
Against India A in the second outing he took 1 for 30 and scored 33 from
41 balls including three sixes, an innings that followed the aggressive
approach the Australians intend to use against India's spinners. His
efforts impressed the coach Mickey Arthur, who told Henriques of his
impending baggy green on Tuesday night, with a message to keep up his
attacking method.
"I'm a fairly aggressive batsman by nature and Mickey just said if you
want to do something out there in the middle just back your strengths,"
Henriques said. "If you want to do it, go for it and you won't be told
you've done the wrong thing back here in the sheds, as long as it's your
strengths. Play to what you're good at. If it doesn't come off, it
doesn't come off, but we want you playing fearless cricket rather than
going out and playing the way you haven't played before.
"It's a good boost of confidence to know you can go out there with your
own twist on things. You don't want to be bogged down for too long
against these spinners with those attacking fields, it's almost an
accident waiting to happen. At some stage you do have to try to put the
pressure back on the opposition bowlers. I felt like the night before
[against India A] they built that pressure up. I think I faced something
like 15 dots without scoring. I thought I would try to make a bit of an
impression first thing in the morning."
It's not the first time this summer Henriques has made an impression.
Six years after he made his first-class debut as a teenager who had
starred as Australia's captain at the Under-19 World Cup, Henriques
finally scored his maiden first-class century, an unbeaten 161 against
Tasmania in Sydney in September. By the time he was called into the Test
squad for this tour, Henriques had managed 385 runs at an average of 77
and 14 wickets at the average of 18 this Shield season.
It was a case of perfect timing, for Shane Watson's decision to avoid
bowling on this tour in an effort to prevent further injuries left the
Australians in need of an allrounder to balance the side. Andrew
McDonald might have been the first picked had he not been sidelined by a
serious hamstring injury, and Mitchell Marsh was also out injured at
the time, although he came back strongly with a Ryobi Cup hundred this
week.
That meant Henriques was the man, and he will have Watson to turn to for
advice in the lead-up to his first Test. Like Watson, Henriques has
suffered numerous injury setbacks over the course of his career - he
tore his side twice last season, had both groin muscles operated on the
previous summer, and has also suffered hamstring troubles - but this
season he has stayed fit.
| Shane Watson is someone who has gone through some similar sort of injury woes early on in his career, in similar parts of the body. He has had some hamstring problems as I did, and a lot of similar injuries as well. And we're both a similar sort of weight and size. Someone like that is someone who, I wouldn't say I've modelled myself on, but I have looked up to in terms of rehabilitation, preparation and recovery. Moises Henriques | |||
"There's been a lot of injuries and in amongst those injuries there has
been some inconsistent form as well," Henriques said. "The one thing you
lose first is your match touch and some little one per cent things when
you don't play consistently. Being able to stay on the park for the
last six months has really helped my performances and helped some
consistency come into my game.
"Shane Watson is someone who has gone through some similar sort of
injury woes early on in his career, in similar parts of the body. He has
had some hamstring problems as I did, and a lot of similar injuries as
well. And we're both a similar sort of weight and size. Someone like
that is someone who, I wouldn't say I've modelled myself on, but I have
looked up to in terms of rehabilitation, preparation and recovery."
Watson, who will bat at No.4 in Chennai, said he was happy to mentor
Henriques, his New South Wales team-mate. Watson said he had been
impressed by the length Henriques targeted in the tour matches, and said
he could play a big part with the ball throughout the series.
"I can certainly help him in a number of different ways," Watson said.
"I can see an amazing amount of similarities between how Mo plays the
game and how his career has evolved over the last six or seven years as
well. The way he bowls is quite similar to the way I bowl. His length
throughout the first tour games was outstanding. He looked as good as
any bowler we had, because he knew the length to bowl.
"His batting has improved a massive amount and he's had quite a bit of
success this summer. Playing in the last tour match, he certainly has
the techinque and game to have success over here. It's really exciting.
It's great to see a younger guy coming through who has similar traits to
how I play and I'm going to help out in any way I can."
Henriques will have to use his team-mates as his support network in
preparation for his debut, for his late inclusion meant it was too late
for his family to fly over to watch him play. His parents Alvaro and
Anabela, both from Portugal, moved to Australia when Portuguese-born
Moises was one and a half, and he said his father had embraced the
sport.
"My dad is all of a sudden a professional on cricket," he said. "Mum
just likes it because I like it. But Dad is always trying to give me
advice."
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here
Feeds: Brydon Coverdale
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