The ongoing 8th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League had Melbourne Renegades skipper, Sophie Molineux, whilst bowling the final over in match no. 43, Sunday’s Melbourne Derby against the Stars at the CitiPower Centre, sustain an injury that has her ruled out of an action-packed domestic and international schedule for nearly a 12-month period.
The 24-year-old is confirmed to have an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury to her left knee following scans that have highlighted a rupture. Sophie Molineux’s rehabilitation plan in the days to come will be finalized post consultations with medical staff from both, the Melbourne Renegades and Cricket Victoria (CV).
James Rosengarten, General Manager at the Melbourne Renegades, said, “Our thoughts are with Sophie, and we will do everything we can to support her now and through her recovery period.
“Sophie had put in a power of work over the winter to return from her foot injury and has been a fantastic leader for our team this season. We know Sophie will bounce back from this latest setback and we’ll be there with her every step of the way.”
The Melbourne Renegades didn’t have the best of seasons in the ongoing 08 edition as the side after 12 games are positioned at the bottom, 8th seed, in the points table. The side got their tournament underway with a win against the Adelaide Strikers, but then suffered a double hat-trick of defeats before the side managed their next win against the Sydney Thunder. Post the win, the side lost 3 more games and had one rained out.
After missing 50-over World Cup and the Commonwealth Games earlier this year due to a foot injury, Sophie Molineux has suffered an ACL injury now ☹️ #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/cGiAUewUqL
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) November 14, 2022
On a personal level, it turned out to be a rare agonizing tournament for Sophie Molineux as she managed only 130 runs off 11 innings and with the ball too failed to ignite the spark she’s well known for having finished with 11 wickets off 11 innings with best figures of 4/23 and an economy rate of 7.17.
Sophie Molineux’s last international appearance had come early last summer during Australia’s historic multi-format series against India as she soon after had sustained a stress fracture during last season’s WBBL when the Renegades were on the verge of making it to the Finals. The injury resulted in her missing the home Ashes last summer, the One-Day World Cup in New Zealand and the historic first-ever women’s cricket event a the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, England.
After six months of rehabilitation, the spin all-rounder turned up for the Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred in the United Kingdom and a few days later announced her return to the game with first-time captaincy duties of Victoria and her maiden One-Day hundred for the side.
Sophie Molineux on return to cricket post-injury would have wished to carry her form of a ton in domestic cricket and a 55* in the editions W-BBL to international cricket but wasn’t to be as the injury is likely to keep her sidelined for nearly 12 months which will again see her miss a lot of bilateral cricket action and a World Cup event, yet again.
We, Female Cricket wish a speedy recovery to Sophie Molineux.
(Quote sourced from Melbourne Renegades Media Release)
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