A skilled left-arm spinner who can also grit it out with the bat lower down the order, it was Sophie Molineux’s ability to bowl tight lines and lengths that made her stand out. Born in Bairnsdale, Victoria, Molineux had a great run at junior level cricket before making her debut for Victoria in 2016. She had a strong season that year and won the inaugural Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year Award in 2017. She made her T20 debut playing for the Melbourne Renegades in the inaugural season of the WBBL in 2015-16. It was her performances here at the BBL that thrust her even further upwards. In season three of the WBBL, Molinuex won the Young Gun Award having scored 318 runs and taken 6 wickets at an economy of 6.39. She did even better in the following year and bagged the Most Valuable Player award after scoring 354 runs and taking 16 wickets.

It was no surprise then when Molineux was named in Australia’s squad for their tour to India in 2018. Her WT20I debut came in that series and a WODI debut came a few months later against Pakistan. She went on to be a crucial part of the Australian squad that won the 2018 Women’s World T20. In 2019, Molineux recovered from a dislocated shoulder just in time to make her Test debut against England. There was to be further joy in 2020 too as she was a part of the Australian squad that successfully defended their Women’s World T20 title on home soil.

Molineux’s skill-set and consistency meant that she got contracts from the Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred and from the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL. She went on to play a key role in RCB’s maiden WPL title in 2024.