Moises set to return from wilderness to replace concussed Smith
Moises Henriques looks set to make his international return in Canberra on Tuesday as a replacement for the concussed Steve Smith.
The Sydney Sixers captain and NSW veteran is in the frame to line up against Sri Lanka at Manuka Oval in the third match of the five-game Twenty20 series.
Moises Henriques gets ready for a net session with the Australian T20 team.Credit:Getty
Australia won the first two matches in Sydney, but Smith landed heavily in the second game on Sunday night after making a flying leap on the boundary attempting to stop a six in the final over of Sri Lanka’s innings.
He has been ruled out of the remaining three matches and was resting at home in Sydney on Monday while most of the squad drove to Canberra.
Henriques gets his chance after Travis Head was released from the early part of the series to play a Sheffield Shield match for South Australia.
Head has flown to Melbourne and will isolate for three days so he can be introduced into the Australian bio-security bubble for the remaining two matches at the MCG on Friday and Sunday.
Henriques, 35, is the all-time leading run-scorer for the Sixers but has had a stop-start international career going back 13 years, when he first played T20 cricket for Australia.
His most recent appearances were Twenty20 and one-day matches for a weakened Australian squad during a difficult tour of the West Indies and Bangladesh midway through last year.
New Australian teammate Josh Inglis believes Henriques’ lengthy resume will be an asset.
“He’s very, very experienced,” Inglis said after the squad arrived in Canberra on Monday.
“He’s a very good player of spin. We’ve seen him do it in the IPL and a lot of tournaments.
“He’s a powerful hitter and he brings valuable overs in the field as well. I’m sure if he was to get a go he’d do a very good job.”
Inglis has made an impressive start to his international career batting at three in place of resting Scorchers and West Australian teammate Mitch Marsh.
After a busy 23 from 18 balls in Australia’s first match on Friday night, he top-scored on Sunday in another inconsistent team batting performance, making 48 from 32 balls as Australia went on to win in a super over.
“I felt pretty good again,” Inglis said of Sunday night’s innings. “It was a bit of a tough wicket. It wasn’t going to be one that you could blast a 60 off 30 (balls).”
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