Australia all-rounder Sophie Molineux has been awarded a central contract by Cricket Australia after being dropped from the list two years. The cricketer recently made a comeback to international cricket and played Tests, ODIs and T20Is over the last two months. She also impressed a lot in the recently concluded Bangladesh tour.
She was named the player of the series in T20Is against Bangladesh last week for picking six wickets at an average of 8.33. The left-arm spinner had also returned with figures of 3/10 on her ODI comeback while her Test comeback happened prior to Bangladesh tour at home against South Africa. Her performances have kept Jess Jonassen out of the squad but even she has been retained in the central contract.
The only player to be dropped off the list is Meg Lanning who retired from international cricket in November last year. "We're really pleased to be able to offer Soph a contract after her successful return to the side this summer. She's shown a great deal of resilience to get back to full fitness and she'll play an important role next summer," national selector Shawn Flegler said.
Interestingly, all is not for the players who haven't made it to the central contract list. They can be upgraded any time during the year if they accrue 12 upgrade points. Players get five points for a featuring in a Test match, two each for ODI and T20I respectively. The 2024-25 season will see Australia playing the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and even the multiformat Ashes is also scheduled in January 2025 with India touring the country for a limited-overs series.
Australia women's contract list 2024-25
Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
