Moises Henriques was so young when he first came into the New South Wales squad that he could only train in school holidays and often had to catch a taxi to practice. By the age of 18 he had already won praise from Trevor Hohns, the former national chairman of selectors, and a rookie contract with the Blues. After starring as captain of Australia's Under-19 side - he first made the team as a 16-year-old - with 16 World Cup wickets in Sri Lanka at 10.62 and 150 runs at 37.5, Henriques played his second senior game in the final of the 2005-06 ING Cup. As the Blues were heading towards the tightest of victories over South Australia, Henriques, the No. 9, refused to fluster and was unbeaten on 5 from 21 balls when Stuart MacGill squirted the winning run. The next season he added another six one-day games but the highlight was playing the opening two Pura Cup matches of the Blues' campaign. In his second outing he displayed his huge potential with 5 for 17 from 13 overs against Queensland. However, he was strangely dropped and did not earn another first-class appearance, although he is sure to feature next season after a part-time spell at the Academy in 2007.
A 187cm opening bowler, Henriques is the youngest player to collect ten wickets in a Sydney first-grade match, and he supplements his skills with fine middle-order strokeplay. "Moises is a genuine allrounder who would be selected in sides for his bowling or his batting alone," Hohns said in 2004. "He is an outstanding prospect and certainly has a bright future." Born on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Henriques arrived in Australia as a baby and first played cricket with friends aged nine. Occasionally compared to Steve Waugh, he looks overseas for Jacques Kallis as an all-round idol. "Everyone asks me if I prefer batting or bowling," he says, "I couldn't choose if I had to pick one."
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