Allrounder says returning to cricket as soon as possible helped him move past serious injury suffered in county clash
How Henriques conquered his demons
Moises Henriques says returning to cricket as soon as possible after he suffered serious facial injuries during a match last year enabled him to get on top of any mental demons that may have lingered from the collision that put him out of action for three months.
Henriques was hospitalised in June last year after a collision with Surrey teammate Rory Burns during a T20 match against Sussex, which broke the allrounder's jaw in three places.
Quick Single: Henriques recovery 'going well'
Despite requiring three operations and dealing with vertigo for several months, Henriques says the injury wasn't as serious as some media outlets reported.
However, he says getting back onto the field as soon as he possibly could was crucial in getting on top of any "mental block" that may have resulted from the heavy collision.
"The first 24 hours after the accident were crucial," Henriques told the Hindustan Times this week in India, where he's playing for IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.
"But it wasn’t as bad as the media portrayed it. Some outlets even claimed that I was fighting for my life, which wasn’t true.
"I didn’t find it too hard to return to sport despite the severity of the injury. With that kind of incident, there’s always the possibility of having a mental block which stays on for long after the incident.
"However, I tried to attack those demons by returning to the ground as soon as possible."
And Henriques did just that, captaining a NSW City side against NSW Country in mid-September, his first match in three months.
He also started the domestic season strongly, playing a crucial role in NSW's triumphant Matador BBQs One-Day Cup campaign in October before missing several weeks with a left calf injury.
Then, having found form with a match-winning 62 for the Sydney Sixers against the Melbourne Renegades two days before Christmas, Henriques' summer was over just four days later when he suffered a serious injury to the same calf while batting at the SCG.
It was a cruel blow for the 13-time Australia representative, who had suffered a right calf injury in similar fashion during the Matador Cup the previous summer.
Having missed the rest of the domestic season, the 29-year-old said his main focus upon his return to cricket in the IPL is to ensure he has an extended run of full fitness.
"I haven’t been able to stay fit for longer than three or four months at a time," he told the Deccan Herald on Monday.
"So that's one of my big goals (this season), playing and staying fit. I’ve lost a bit of weight over the last two or three months so hopefully as I become lighter, I don’t carry too much weight on the cricket field.
"I feel once I’m able to stay fit and stay on the park for a long time, I should be able to realise my potential."
Henriques is hoping an extended stay on the park can also revive his international career, having last played for Australia in January 2015.
But with other allrounders like Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell firmly in the mix for national selection, Henriques said he simply has to focus on performance.
"Every game of cricket I play is an opportunity to improve and get better and hopefully nail down a spot (for Australia)," he said.
"Firstly though, I want to play good cricket for Hyderabad. If I’m playing good cricket for Hyderabad, then I should be able to become a good international cricketer in time as well.
"That’s obviously the grand plan but sometimes it may not go according to it. If you are playing good cricket the selection takes care of itself."
Henriques and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are captained and coached by Australian duo David Warner and Tom Moody respectively, next take on the Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.