Moises Henriques: The former Australia international says his ‘cricket knife’ will lead Portugal to the T20 World Cup

Madeira’s most famous son is Cristiano Ronaldo, and the island changed the name of its airport in honor of the Portuguese soccer star.

Henriques joked that he “might get a helicopter pad” bearing his name if he is able to lead Portugal to the World Cup.

Portugal, ranked 37th in the world, will first have to pass the tournament that will be held in Finland, in which ten teams will participate, where it will play in the second group with the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Israel.

If they qualify, the next stage will be a European final regional qualifiers with Scotland, Jersey and Denmark next year.

Henriques said that although getting the Baggie Green Award will take some knocks, the feeling of wearing the Portugal jersey and leading the country will be something special.

“I returned to Madeira last year and it was my first time back, but I felt really connected to the place,” Henriques said.

“When I played for Australia, my family also felt like I was representing them too. I’m representing the motherland, so to speak, and it will feel somewhat similar.”

“I hope we can make a positive impact by developing the sport in Portugal and perhaps Europe more widely as well,” he added.

Henriques, who will also play for Glasgow Cosmic in the inaugural European T20 Super League after the qualifiers, is not the only player in Portugal’s squad to have played professionally.

Pater Cameron Sheckleton, 26, played first-class cricket in South Africa and featured for the Proteas A team.

Former New Zealand under-19 captain Craig Kashubba, 34, has represented Sussex, Auckland and Wellington.

“I have been quietly and pleasantly surprised by the quality of cricketers we have in the team,” Henriques said.

“There are a lot of high-level cricketers walking around, which I probably wouldn’t have expected a few years ago when I first started thinking about playing.”

One of the challenges Henriks will face in Finland’s qualifiers is playing on an artificial pitch for the first time in a few decades.

“It will be 25 years since I actually played cricket on an artificial wicket,” the former Sydney Sixers captain added.

“I came out of back surgery about five months ago, so the biggest challenge in bowling will be landing on an artificial wicket coming out of the full pre-season.

“Obviously we practice a lot indoors on the artificial wicket, so hopefully I can make the adjustment.”

Listen to the full interview with Moises Henriques on the BBC Stumped podcast.