Molineux's journey from West Bairnsdale to the Baggy Green

Like many Australian children, Sophie Molineux grew up dreaming of wearing the Baggy Green.

But for Molineux, it was not the iconic cap donned by those who play Test cricket she coveted; rather, it was the green cap her father and grandfather wore while taking the field for West Bairnsdale Cricket Club.

Molineux, who celebrated her 23rd birthday on Sunday, grew up in the eastern Victorian town, around 3.5 hours from Melbourne and while she is now based in the Victorian capital, she remains a Gippsland girl through and through.

These days, the Australia allrounder has both varieties of Baggy Green in her collection; having played alongside her father as a teenager for her beloved West Bairnsdale, before making her Test debut against England in the United Kingdom in July 2019.

And wherever she travels around the world with the Australian team, it is always with her well-worn West Bairnsdale cap – handed down to her by her father – packed securely in her kit bag.

"It was the first Baggy Green I knew of and the only one as a kid that I wanted to wear," Molineux told teammate Beth Mooney recently while discussing the benefits of the Toyota Good for Cricket raffle.

"I first started playing when I was seven or eight, I’d been asking for a little bit to play cricket with the real ball and against the boys and dad gave in.

"I was a pretty small eight-year-old, especially compared to the 13-year-old boys I started playing with – they had to help me put my pads and my helmet on for my first game.

"I went up through the junior teams and then played a bit of senior cricket as well – I was 14 or 15 when I got to play with Dad."

When Molineux was released from the Rebel WBBL hub in Sydney in late November, she made a beeline for Bairnsdale, eager to return home after many months of being unable to visit due to Melbourne’s strict lockdown followed by hubs in Brisbane and Sydney.

"It was great, I hit the road and got to Bairnsdale and that night I was at the clubrooms for our Christmas function," Molineux told cricket.com.au this week.

"It was good timing. I love getting back home whenever I can and it was great to relax, and use the nets at West Bairnsdale and catch up with everyone there."

If Molineux is devoted to her first club, they are equally as dedicated to her – a framed shirt the allrounder wore in the 2018 T20 World Cup hangs proudly in the clubrooms.

"That’s a stitch up," Molineux laughed. "(But) they’re always tuning in and watching.

"That club is a second family … and I think most people at the club agree with me.

"Pretty much my whole summer was at the club and growing up in a country town, the heartbeat of the town is the sporting clubs.

"It’s like a big family to me and it’s not only influenced my cricket, but the person I am today."

Molineux’s treasured West Bairnsdale cap is not the only piece of home she carries wherever she goes.

A couple of years ago, she got the coordinates for Bairnsdale tattooed on her right wrist – "I’m not sure exactly whereabouts in Bairnsdale it is... more than likely the pub," she joked – but the small line of black ink is a constant reminder of home when she is plying her trade on the other side of the world.

"I got it a couple of years ago, I was a couple of years into living in the city and it was nice at the time to be able to put it on my wrist," she continued.

"It was at the point where I started travelling overseas a little bit more and it kept me even more connected to home."

In the almost three years since she made her international debut, Molineux has been part of two T20 World Cups triumphs and played in a winning Ashes series.

She has travelled to far flung parts of the West Indies and India, and danced on stage at the MCG with Katy Perry.

And sitting right up there among those highlights in Molineux’s most treasured memories is one innings she played for West Bairnsdale.

"I remember making my first ever hundred in C Grade with my best mate from school, we both made our first ever hundreds together," she said.

"It was 45 degrees, we were playing in the hottest area in Victoria at that point, flies everywhere, but one of the best days of my life."