BBL11: Moises Henriques discusses the challenges of being a three-format player, and the secret behind the Sixers‘ recent success

But speaking 24 hours later, Henriques had found a different perspective. Omission from the Test squad ensured he was free to play in a tournament that, perhaps more than any other, has shaped his career.

Henriques has won three BBL titles with the Sydney Sixers, the last two consecutive as captain. He is second behind only Aaron Finch for most BBL games captained (62), fifth for catches (42), equal seventh for games played (87) and tenth on the league’s all-time run-scorers’ list (1900 at 27.94).

“One thing I‘ve learned over the past is despite not being selected, whether I get selected or not, that’s someone else’s opinion,” Henriques said. “I probably won’t have the opportunity to take part in a great deal of the Ashes this year, I’m going to have a great opportunity to play with the Sixers.

“I’m going to have a great opportunity to spend time with my family over Christmas and be around my young son and my wife and all my friends and family. Whilst one opportunity gets taken away, many others get put forward.”

Henriques is the embodiment of the chaotic, inconsistent and messy existence of the modern three-format player, exacerbated further by the pandemic and its various impacts from bubbles to border restrictions.

After a 2020-21 Sheffield Shield campaign in which he amassed 633 runs at 70.33, Henriques was favoured to return to the Test fold after a five-year absence and play an important middle-order role on the tour of South Africa – a scheduled three-Test series that was expected to propel Australia into the World Test Championship final.

That series was postponed on biosecurity grounds, Australia barely missed the WTC final and Henriques has managed just one red ball game since; a Sheffield Shield match against Victoria late last month.

Today, aged 34, Henriques finds himself outside the top 25 red ball players in Australia.

His decision to play white ball cricket for Australia and at the IPL might have contributed to that fate. At a time when many of Australia’s senior players were opting out of tours to the West Indies and Bangladesh after extended periods in biosecurity bubbles, Henriques made the difficult decision to leave behind his young family and represent his country, thus subjecting himself to more bubbles and quarantines.

Henriques underperformed in the difficult conditions, as did the team generally. In 13 matches, he scored 147 runs with a top score of 33. From a mainstay in Australia’s T20 team, Henriques was omitted from Australia’s ultimately triumphant T20 World Cup squad.

The only top-level cricket he has played since Bangladesh has been a pair of IPL matches for Punjab Kings, the Shield match against Victoria (both states were prevented from playing more red ball cricket due to border restrictions) and a one-day future against the same opponent.

“When they selected the Ashes squad, I think New South Wales might have only played one Shield game,” Henriques says. “And if they‘re making selections based on one Shield game for an entire Ashes squad then I’m not sure they’re doing it right.

“I think if we‘re going to really compare whether that [going to the IPL] was the difference on whether I got selected or not I couldn’t disagree more. It’s just so complex, there’s so much grey area and it’s just a really hard thing to say, ‘It’s because of one or two things.’”

Henriques’ schedule will populate quickly from this week, starting with the Sixers’ BBL season-opener against the Stars at the SCG on Sunday night.

It has been ten months since James Vince’s flashing blade inspired Sydney to victory over the Scorchers in the BBL final, prompting wild scenes at the SCG and a post-match celebration that concluded sometime the next day with harbourside beers and a sun well above the horizon.

The Sixers have retained the bulk of their championship line-up, welcomed back England all-rounder Tom Curran and added fiery England fast bowler Chris Jordan for the first five games of the campaign. It is, by any measure, a formidable line-up from top-to-tail and the Sixers, with Henriques at the helm, stand at the precipice of a feat never before achieved in the league.

Does Henriques feel an historic three-peat is achievable?

“We can’t guarantee winning, we can‘t guarantee good performance,” he says. “We can only try to be the best versions of ourselves.”

Personal development is something that Henriques holds close.

He has spoken openly about his issues with depression and served as a strong advocate for breaking down stigmas associated with mental health – whether it be by growing out his moustache regularly for Movember or posting important messages on his social media channels.

Encouraging teammates to speak up at any time has become vital to creating a positive environment around the team. Henriques credits the awareness, perspective and resilience created by the squad’s frank and open discussions as an important factor behind Sydney’s back-to-back titles.

“We‘re quite open about it here and extremely inclusive of things like mental health. The general attitude towards those types of issues, I think, has been a real strength of this club,” Henriques says.

“It does allow people to feel comfortable and safe despite being in a high performance and high judgmental environment where you do hear, whether you like it or not, a lot of external opinions about how other people think you’re going. We look out for each other and make sure that if we do see a few little flags, that we are reminding whoever to seek that help or to use the resources at hand.

“I think that‘s also part of the reason why we’ve been able to win so many close games over the last couple of years and had such good success in finals because, when we’re under pressure, the guys know that whilst the game or the season might be on the line, all it really is is a learning experience and an opportunity for us to grow no matter what the result is.

“The sun will still come up no matter what the result of the cricket is and I think the only important thing at the end of the game, or while we‘re playing the game, is to try and meet failure head on and then analyse and see how we might have done better the next time.”

There’s always a bright side.

That’s how Moises Henriques has learned to deal with setbacks in his career.

The Test squad’s loss is about to be the BBL’s gain.