Madeira’s most famous son is Cristiano Ronaldo, and the island changed the name of its airport in honour of the Portuguese football star.
Henriques joked he “might get a helicopter pad” named after him, if he is able to skipper Portugal to the World Cup.
Portugal, ranked 37th in the world, will first have to come through the 10-team tournament in Finland, where they have drawn Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Israel in Group B.
Should they progress, the next stage will be a European final regional qualifier with Scotland, Jersey and Denmark next year.
Henriques said while earning a Baggy Green will take some beating, the feeling of pulling on a Portugal shirt, and captaining the country, will be something special.
“I went back to Madeira last year and it was the first time I’d been back, but I felt really connected to the place,” Henriques said.
“When I played for Australia, my family also felt I was representing them as well. I’m representing the motherland, so to speak, and it’s going to feel somewhat similar.
“Hopefully we can make a positive impact trying to grow the sport in Portugal and probably Europe more broadly as well.”
Henriques, who will also play for Glasgow Cosmic in the inaugural European T20 Premier League following the qualifier, is not the only player in Portugal’s squad to have played professionally.
Batter Cameron Shekleton, 26, has played first-class cricket in South Africa and appeared for the Proteas A side.
Former New Zealand Under-19 captain Craig Cachopa, 34, represented Sussex, Auckland and Wellington.
“I was quietly and pleasantly surprised with the quality of cricketers that we’ve got in the team,” Henriques said.
“There’s a lot of high-level cricketers going around, which I probably wasn’t expecting a few years ago when I first started entertaining the thought of playing.”
One challenge that Henriques will face at the qualifier in Finland is playing on an artificial pitch for the first time in a few decades.
“It would be 25 years since I’ve actually played a game of cricket on a synthetic wicket,” added the former Sydney Sixers skipper.
“I’m coming out of back surgery about five months ago so the biggest challenge bowling will be landing on a synthetic wicket on coming off a full run-up.
“Obviously we train a lot indoors on synthetic wickets so hopefully I can make the adjustment.”
Listen to the full interview with Moises Henriques on the BBC Stumped podcast.
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