Australia sweat over captain Sophie Molineux fitness

Molineux is expected to be back for the West Indies tour. (PC: Cricket Australia)

Australia will not take any chances with their injured captain, Sophie Molineux, ahead of the T20 World Cup, which is set to be played later this year. Chief selector Shawn Flegler is optimistic about Molineux’s availability for the West Indies tour, which begins later this month.

On Friday, Molineux was ruled out of the multi-format series against India due to persistent lower back pain in the lead-up to the second ODI in Hobart. Her injury has cast doubt over her participation in Australia’s next assignment in the Caribbean.

With the T20 World Cup scheduled for later this year, Australia are unwilling to risk their captain.

“Unfortunately Soph has developed a bit of lower back pain over the last few days, which means she’s going to miss the rest of the series,” Flegler told Channel Seven. “We’ll work towards Molineux being available for the West Indies series coming up. We don’t want to take any risks with the T20 World Cup approaching.

Detailing the extent of Molineux’s injury, Flegler said: “She’s still able to bat and run, but it’s her bowling that’s causing a little bit of pain at the moment. We’ll get her scanned and then we’ll have to rest her for a little while. That’s why we don’t want to take any chances with the next few matches.”

If Molineux fails to recover in time for the West Indies tour, one of her two deputies, Tahlia McGrath or Ashleigh Gardner, will stand in as captain.

“We don’t think she’s going to miss too much more,” Flegler said of Molineux. “We’ve got Alyssa captaining for the next few games, and then the plan is to take Soph to the West Indies and continue her captaincy there.”

In another update, Kim Garth is unlikely to recover from her quad injury in time for the day-night match against India at the WACA Ground in Perth.

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