Moises Henriques looking to cement his place in Australia's Test team
Recently, Moises Henriques celebrated his return to the Australian Test squad in style after receiving the Man of the Match for Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL eliminator match against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, the 29-year old is well aware that consistency is the key to cementing a place in the Australian squad for good.
Currently, Mitchell Marsh has pretty much cemented his place as the all-rounder of the team but Henriques is a major contender depending on how the Australian side want to line up to suit the conditions. After being recalled to the side, Henriques had scored 68 and 81* making him the only Australian to score over 50 plus in both innings on debut since 1980.
"I hope I've improved and I hope I've also learnt about how hard Test cricket is, in terms of backing up day after day, Test after Test," Henriques told reporters in Colombo. “"You see the likes of Smithy and Davey, how they perform Test after Test and are able to bounce back and just be extremely consistent all the time,” he added.
Also read: Moises Henriques – An all-rounder of great promise
He has acknowledged the fact that his inconsistency is one of the major things he needs to work on as that might stand in the way of a permanent spot in the National Test team despite one good performance on debut. He failed to register a total of double figures and took just two wickets in the remainder of the series in India.
“"It's not just about one good performance or a couple of good performances. You've got to keep churning them and keep being as good as you can for as long as you can. After one good Test I felt like I'd displayed that I was good enough, but just not consistent enough,” he said.
However, a plus point can be that Henriques has had a lot of practice getting used to conditions in the Asian subcontinent as he played in all the 17 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in their road to victory in the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League. Although he has represented Australia in only three Test matches and has not played a first-class match since November, Henriques believes that he is ready to come back to the team full time.
After one good Test I felt like I'd displayed that I was good enough, but just not consistent enough. That's the biggest thing, is to do it over and over again. I certainly feel like I've improved as a cricketer and given the opportunity, I'd like to think I could do even better than I did then,” he was quoted saying.