Australia Women spinner Sophie Molineux has been handed the charge of the captaincy of the team for all formats. The decision comes ahead of Australia’s multi-format home series against India before the team heads for the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in England in June 2026. Molineux was picked by National selector Shawn Flegler who believes Molineux is the right choice for the team. She will be joined by vice-captains Taliah McGrath and Ash Gardner.
Flegler, however, revealed that Sophie’s workload will be a priority for the team taking into consideration his new leadership role. He said, “We will continue to manage Sophie’s workload, prioritising key tournaments and major international series following injury challenges in recent seasons.”
McGrath was under Alyssa Healy’s captaincy who led the team from 2023-25. She has also acted the role of stand-in captain replacing Alyssa.
“Tahlia McGrath remains vice-captain, recognising her significant leadership contribution under Alyssa Healy. Tahlia has acted as stand-in captain on 16 occasions across formats, providing consistency and stability,” she added.
Molineux on captaining Australia Women
After taking charge of Australia Women’s team as captain, Molineux will start her role in the T20I series against India starting on February 16. With Healy set to retire post the India series, Molineux will captain Australia in subsequent assignments.
Following the announcement of her captaincy, Molineux shared her feelings on the news and what challenge the captaincy will bring as she returns back to the Australia Women’s squad but this time as a skipper.
“Everyone’s different, everyone’s got their different strengths, and I think the one thing I’ll probably do is be myself. It’s probably given me greater perspective – you know, things are never as bad as they seem in the moment, or as good sometimes,” Molineux said.
“I could probably use that strength at times, and it might keep me a bit more consistent and calm in moments. And I know we’re going to have a lot of big moments coming up that we’re going to need that calmness (in),” she added.
In addition to the World Cup, Australia has the major T20 tournaments including the inaugural women’s cricket’s Champions Trophy 2027, followed by the Olympics and the 2028 World Cup. Meanwhile, Molineux is hoping to lead the team to a better position this time as Australia Women lost the World Cup finals twice.
“We’ve lost the last two World Cups we’ve been a part of, and we’re not going to shy away from that. And they hurt, and we’ve spent time in reflection, and I think we’ve just got the right ingredients to be able to go another level, and that’s what we’re all excited about. It’s going to take a bit of courage. We’re not defending any more. We have to go out there and get it ourselves,” she added.
