For Sophie Molineux, 2026 has been a big year. The most significant of her career. She is now Australia women's captain and has led her side to a World Cup trophy.
"I didn't envisage it 12 months ago," she says ahead of the new season, which starts with the opening round of the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) on September 29. "It's been a whirlwind, full of highs and lows, but I wouldn't change any of it. The experience of the World Cup, it was five or six weeks of pure enjoyment."
The highest of highs was holding the T20 World Cup trophy aloft, first on the Lord's outfield and then on the dressing room balcony in scenes reminiscent of the men's 1999 ODI World Cup triumph.
The lows referenced by Molineux included the uncertainty that came beforehand. Shortly after being named Alyssa Healy's successor - to some surprise, at least for those outside of the team - a career that had been blighted by injury was hit by another. A back problem sidelined her during the India series at home, and prevented her bowling in the West Indies, although such was the urgency to bond the team before the World Cup in England that she toured as a batter-captain.
"I suppose the injuries have taken up a large chunk of the last few years for me, but the lessons that you learn from going through it just makes me really grateful to be sitting here today with some pretty special memories under my belt," Molineux says.
Australia relinquished their T20 World Cup crown in 2024 when South Africa dumped them out in the semi-final (they would exit at the same stage of the ODI edition, at India's hands, in 2025). When they lost to India at home in Molineux's first series in charge earlier this year, it raised questions as to where their T20 cricket was heading.
A few months later in England, they were barely challenged in their march to the title. They were wobbling on 62 for 4 against South Africa in the tournament opener, but Phoebe Litchfield had already set the tone with 50 off 24 balls and Australia came out winners by 65 runs. Molineux herself struck in the first over of South Africa's chase.
Their subsequent margins of victory read: nine wickets, 98 runs, 113 runs, six wickets, eight wickets, and lastly, seven wickets in the final against England in a chase that was never in doubt.
"It was the how [we won] that was really special," Molineux says. "I feel like that's a platform for us to be able to push on and keep going into uncharted territory. Leading into that World Cup we spoke about how we wanted to play, and actually being able to do it was the really pleasing part. It's now given us evidence that this style, having this mindset, is, one, really fun but can also be really successful and dominating."
The match in which Australia were challenged the most was against India at Lord's, where they were 68 for 3 chasing 171, though they eased home with six balls to spare to knock India out of the tournament. It was also the source of an amusing captaincy-related story.
Molinuex has been keen to foster a collegiate approach to leadership, where she leans on others for advice. For the final over of India's innings there was a choice to be made between bowling a seamer or Molineux herself taking it on. She discussed it with Litchfield, who encouraged the captain to bowl. "I went for 23," Molineux deadpans.
But ultimately no harm was done, except to some bowling figures, and it won't change Molineux's approach. "The big thing for me is being able to lean on people," she says. "I can want to take on too much and to get everything right and perfect, but I know that doesn't set anyone up for success. You look at this team and there's five or six Big Bash captains, there's hundreds of games in experience, and some incredible cricket minds. Each member of the team can feel a leader in their own way. You don't want to put a muzzle on anything, especially in a team like that where people genuinely care and are really intelligent cricketers."
Molineux is one of those Big Bash captains for Melbourne Renegades, who were thrown into chaos earlier this year. As Australia were preparing for the World Cup, news came out about Cricket Victoria merging their BBL operations into one club and putting the Renegades license up for sale. While there had been awareness of the longer-term vision for the teams, the sudden nature of the way it happened, before many players had been officially told, created a state of shock and confusion. That has now dissipated, and the BBL sales process is official, but at the time it added to Molineux's plate.
"It was weird, really weird," she says. "We were quite removed from it all, being on the other side of the world, and waking up to what had happened. It took a lot of us by surprise, but we sort of knew there was talk that things were going to head this way. We just weren't expecting it to come out like that."
Like her counterpart in the men's team, Will Sutherland, Molineux is now clearer on what it means and, having won a maiden WBBL title in 2024-25, is determined to sign off Renegades' BBL history in style if the sales process moves on as planned.
"I think there is real scope to be able to be freed [up] into the feeling of, yeah, it's a free hit and we've got nothing to lose," she said. "We would like to go out our way. That's the Renegades way, I suppose, going against the odds with our backs against the wall. We've got a year left of being a Renegade and part of that is a little bit sad, but I think at the same time there's genuine excitement in terms of the opportunities that privatisation could unlock."
On the international front, it is a light home season for Australia. There are just nine matches: three ODIs against Bangladesh, which start on October 9, followed by three T20Is against New Zealand then three ODIs against New Zealand in March. The moving of the inaugural Champions Trophy to late February forced a rejig of the fixtures and the loss of three T20Is from Bangladesh's tour. Scheduling for the women's team at home is a challenge, with the WPL having taken over January and potentially expanding in the future. Australia are due in Sri Lanka for an ODI series prior to Christmas.
However, there are some big prizes on the horizon. This year's T20 World Cup marked the beginning of four consecutive global events in the format. The next is the Champions Trophy, followed by the 2028 double of the Olympics and T20 World Cup. But there is also an Ashes series next year, running alongside the men's, and prior to that, a multi-format tour of South Africa in March and April, so while T20 will be a heavy focus, there won't be tunnel vision.
"I think you have to go in waves with it," Molineux says. "You have to be strategic, sit down and plan out the next 18-24 months. Our schedule is very T20-dominant and we're aware of that. I think naturally the squad will shift into that space but at the same time we've got the experience to be really well planned, and a group of staff to get us ready for any variation, whether that's a one-off Test or an ODI series. You never want to neglect a format, especially one-dayers [which bring ODI Championship points], but the strong T20 emphasis makes it a bit clearer for us to plan the style of play we want."
Molineux is expected to play for Victoria in the opening round of WNCL. Her state will be looking to recover from a horror 2025-26 season, where they lost all 12 games and, due to an over-rate penalty, finished on minus points. Given the schedule, they may be her only appearances of the season if Molineux plays the WPL in January. For Australia, she has her sights set on being part of everything after a stop-start career, but is aware of the added responsibility she now carries and admitted starting a season as the national captain brings a different feeling.
"It does a little bit," she says. "But it might not just be the captaincy part, but because I've been consistently playing. I'm super-excited to play at home, but it's really nice to come into it with a few games this time around. I will do everything in my power to be able to stay fit.
"Part of it is being able to manage myself in terms of a bit of extra load of being captain and the mental and the emotional load that comes with that. But I've got some amazing support around and, touch wood, I feel like I'm just getting into the rhythm of playing games again. I'm looking forward to the next 18 months for this team. We've got some massive tournaments."