Molineux fighting hard to regain fitness for Women’s Ashes
Molineux underwent surgery on her right shoulder in early March, after dislocating it at a training session with her state side Victoria. Now in the middle of rehabilitation, Molineux expressed satisfaction at her progress and was hopeful that she would recover in time for the English summer.
"It’s going really well, (the time has) gone pretty quick," Molineux said. "I’m still a little while away (from playing again), but I’ve been doing the right things and I’m seeing how it’s feeling day by day.
"Hopefully, it’s not too far away. I’ve got to be able to bat and bowl to be selected, so it’d be good to have a good little stint before that and be training at full capacity. I’ll see how it goes, but I’ve still got time for that."
Molineux said that while returning to a normal bowling workload wouldn’t be an issue, it’s the fielding, especially diving to her right, that will take more time getting used to, although she didn’t sound too concerned about pulling it off.
"I don’t have to relearn how to bowl or throw, which is a massive bonus. That’s a huge positive to be able to take away," she said. "(One thing is) diving in the field onto that side again, but I think that’ll come back pretty quickly in the heat of the game, so I’m not too worried about that."
Molineux’s injury was the first setback in what had been a smooth rise to the top. It caused her to miss the home ODI series against New Zealand, and a chance to play in front of family and friends at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Molineux expressed her disappointment at missing out then, but was thankful for the support she has received through the injury and looked forward to rejoining the team for the Ashes.
"It was disappointing at the time, but I’m lucky I’ve had a pretty good run and I’ve got some good support at the moment," she said. "I’d never had surgery before, so that was an experience. There have been some times where I’ve had to pull back and actually listen to my body for once, it’s actually teaching me a lot that I think will help me in the long run.
"Having those opportunities, I really enjoyed it. Some days, you feel like you’re bowling absolute pies and other days it goes okay. It would be amazing to be able to travel overseas again with that group (for the Ashes). I’m hoping it does happen and I’m definitely not taking it for granted. Playing for Australia is one of the most amazing things I’ve done, so fingers crossed."