How injury forced Sophie Molineux to 'start from the start again'

On her ODI comeback against Bangladesh, Sophie Molineux took 3 for 10 in one of the most economical bowling spells in the format's history. But go back to 2022, and Molineux was battling her toughest phase as a cricket - out of action, injured for 12 months with a knee injury. It needed her to start all over again.

First came the ACL surgery. Then her rehab. And lastly, watching cricket on TV knowing she cannot be there. It is excruciating for sportspersons to watch sports on TV when they are out of the game, but Molineux said she found comfort there too.

"Once you are injured like that, you have to start from the start again," Molineux says. "After surgery I was probably overwhelmed with what was to come. I knew it was going to be close to twelve months, if not more, for me to play cricket again. That first part was probably tricky mentally. I suppose once you get into it, there are so many new things that you can do in rehab."

"There was amazing support around me at Cricket Victoria. Richard Johnson [head physical performance coach at Cricket Victoria women] and Brendan Goonan [physiotherapist] were there by my side the whole time. Kept things fun and interesting. The support I had from family, friends and teammates, I will be forever grateful. It was a long 12 months but also it was an opportunity to learn new things. I watched a lot of cricket so hopefully it will help in the long run. It was a rewarding and tough experience at the same time."

In particular, Molineux was grateful to her two best mates, Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck. The trio has been through a lot. Whenever one of them got injured in the last two years, the other two rushed to her. They have been in Bangladesh in both the ODI and T20I squad together.

"Tay, Georgia and I played a lot of cricket together. We were all very similar in age. We also grew up in country Victoria. We played age-group cricket together. We lived together when we first moved to Melbourne, so they are two of my closest mates. It is just another experience when you are on your own," Molineux said.

"The three of us are all very different people but there's a special bond between us all. When we were home together, we rode the wave with each other. Whenever one of us got injured, the other two would drop everything to look after each other. It is now nice to be away to do what we love to do, to be here in Bangladesh at the moment."

Molineux, who returned to international cricket in the Test match against South Africa at the WACA, said that Bangladesh challenged the Australian team to change their ways since these are very different conditions than what they are familiar with. Molineux has had a successful time with 10 wickets in four matches across the two formats.

"We knew coming here, it was going to be completely different conditions than what we are used to," she said. "The first thing was to completely adjust our games. Get used to the pitches over here. I think both spin and pace has had really good moments in the one-dayers. There's been a lot of learning here, which is great. Our batting unit is getting better and better. They are more comfortable over here."

Australia are also using this tour to collect intelligence for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year. "I think that's the other positive to come out of touring Bangladesh in a World Cup year. I think we all have, in the back of our minds, that something big is around the corner. Hopefully we can put all these experiences in our back pocket, and use that knowledge in six or seven months, when the World Cup is on," she said.

Before heading to Bangladesh, Molineux won the WPL title with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. She had a major say in the final when she took three wickets in the eighth over. It completely derailed Delhi Capitals.

"It was an incredible night, not just for RCB but for women's cricket," she said. "It was a packed stadium. It was amazing throughout the tournaments. We were definitely under the pump after the powerplay [in the WPL final]. I was lucky to bowl that over. The bowlers that came on afterwards kept applying pressure. It was a pretty good performance.

She however had gone into the tournament with little expectations. She had a few known faces on the team, and expected her bowling would be smashed around a little.

"I was very grateful for them to pick me after having not played much cricket. There was a lot of experience in the team so I was really excited to play alongside Smriti Mandhana, Shreyank Patel, Sophie Devine and Pez [Ellyse Perry].

"They are close mates of mine. I knew it was going to be tough but like any tournament, you have to rebound after tough matches. Crack on pretty quickly. The coaching staff was wonderful in helping us do that," she said.

On her comeback to competitive cricket too, her friends surrounded Molineux. It was comforting for her as she had got used to having company during her injury layoff.

"I think [what helped to get over low moments] were the people around me. The good friends I have. The support staff were incredible. You have always got your family as well. I will forever be appreciative of people around me. I always knew I was going to come back, and play cricket again. Sometimes you feel like it is a long way away. Other weeks, you feel that it is pretty close. I suppose you ride those waves throughout the extended period of time."