Nervous, excited: Molineux embraces her fresh start

Sophie Molineux has likened her reunion with the Australian squad to the "first day back at school", as she prepares for her unexpected shot at a Test recall.

The spin-bowling allrounder is back with the national side for the first time since October 2021, ending a 27-month-long period in the wilderness caused by back-to-back serious injuries.

Since that multi-format series against India in 2021, Molineux has overcome a stress fracture in her foot and a ruptured ACL.

She impressed for Victoria and the Governor-General’s XI following her long-awaited return to play in December, but told The Scoop podcast on Tuesday that a call from national selector Shawn Flegler was still the last thing she had expected.

"I was in the gym at Junction Oval … I don't know what come over me, but I just got a little bit teary and there was a bit of silence there and Flegs was like, 'Are you there?' And I said, 'Yep, sorry, sounds awesome," Molineux said. 

"Then I got off the phone and spoke to Mum, and Tay (Vlaeminck) was in the gym as well, so I was able to give her a big sweaty hug. 

"That Governor-General's game that I played in, I absolutely loved that (but) I think this time around, I was just excited to get back to playing any cricket in any colours. 

"Of course, I've always hoped that I'd come back into this Australian squad at some point, but probably didn't think it'd be this soon."

Following that call, Molineux had one week to pack and prepare herself for the trip to Perth.

That including locating the Baggy Green she last wore at Carrara Stadium in October 2021 – an item she had a feeling was at her parents’ house in Bairnsdale, a town in eastern Victoria more than three hours’ drive from her home base in Melbourne. 

"The last time I saw it, it was in the study (in Bairnsdale), sitting in the sun ageing as if I'd played a hundred tests, so I had to move it," Molineux said. 

"But I don't know how it ended up in a drawer at home (in Melbourne). 

"The white pads were an issue, they were in Bairnsdale, but my aunty was on a quick trip up to Melbourne so it worked out well."

During Molineux’s prolonged absence, Australia won the 2022 ODI World Cup, a Commonwealth Games gold medal, the 2023 T20 World Cup and retained the Ashes both at home and away.

The playing group itself as undergone significant change since she was last involved – captains Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes have retired, and the likes of Phoebe Litchfield and Alana King have arrived.

The coaching staff is also very different, with Shelley Nitschke replacing Matthew Mott, and two new assistants in Dan Marsh and Scott Prestwidge.

Of course, many of the players remain the same, including Molineux’s Victorian teammates and friends Georgia Wareham, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland and Kim Garth.

But landing in Perth on Monday, for the last leg of a multi-format series, Molineux was reminded of just how long she had been away.

"Initially when I got the call up, I was just over-the-top excited, and I probably didn't think too much about coming in," she said. 

"It's a very different set-up now to where I was when I was here three years ago. 

"Then it hit me when I flew in (on Monday) and I got a bit nervous and I'm like, 'This is a fresh start'. 

"Which is also a really cool thing as well. 

"Having that time out of out of the squad, a lot has changed in three years, in terms of the environment here and also me as a person as well. 

"I was very nervous this morning ... but the girls are great, they were very casual and the vibes were high which is cool to jump into."

The team has changed but so has Molineux. 

She was 23 when she last played for Australia and had enjoyed a near-perfect first few years in the Australian team following her debut in early 2018, winning back-to-back T20 World Cups and making her Test debut in England in 2019.

That changed when, shortly after missing the 2022 Ashes and World Cup due to her foot injury, she also lost her national contract.

But Molineux has spent the last two years growing as a leader in a young Victorian playing group, and while her domestic cricket comeback in late 2022 was brief and abruptly cut short by her knee injury, she was awarded the Victoria captaincy, alongside her existing role as Renegades skipper.

"Through injury, there's opportunity and I had an opportunity throughout the last couple of years to firstly stay in the one spot for an extended period of time in Melbourne," Molineux said. 

"They're a really special group and spending those two years back in Victoria, I wouldn't change a thing because being able to be fully involved in that program – it's a young group of girls, and I think it's really rewarding because you can see big improvements and big changes."

Women's CommBank T20I Series v South Africa

First T20: Australia won by eight wickets

Second T20: South Africa won by six wickets

Third T20: Australia win by five wickets

Women's CommBank ODI Series v South Africa

First ODI: Australia won by eight wickets

February 7: South Africa won by 84 runs

February 10: Australia won by 110 runs (DLS method)

Women's CommBank Test Match v South Africa

February 15-18: Only Test, WACA Ground, Perth 11.00am

Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

South Africa Test squad: Laura Wolvaardt, Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke de Ridder, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Chloé Tryon, Delmi Tucker