Molly Strano unfazed when asked to open bowling in match she’d planned to watch on TV
She was meant to be watching the game at home on her couch in Melbourne. Instead, in a remarkable twist of fate, spinner Molly Strano found herself bowling the first ball of the T20 World Cup.
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The sound system was blaring the countdown as the big screen flashed the numbers.
Ten, nine …
Molly Strano looked down at the white ball in her hands, raised her head and focused on the India batter in front of her.
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Here she was, in the middle of Sydney Showground on Friday night, about to open the bowling for Australia in the first game of their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign.
Two, one … and it was time to bowl.
It’s a remarkable story: a week ago, the Victorian spinner wasn’t even in the 15-player Aussie squad and suddenly she was bowling the first ball in Australia’s first World Cup game.
Strano, 27, was brought into the team after quick Tayla Vlaeminck was ruled out with a stress injury in her right foot.
“Getting that phone call to say I was called into the squad had mixed emotions … me being heartbroken and absolutely gutted for Tay, but then again, shocked and excited to be able to turn up with the Aussie team,” she said.
Strano, who last donned the green and gold in 2017, was named 2019’s Women’s Domestic Player of the Year after a sensational season with the Melbourne Renegades where she was the WBBL’s leading wicket-taker, with 24. This haul made her the league’s highest wicket-taker across five seasons with 96.
“When we got to the ground on Friday, (captain) Meg (Lanning) came up to me and said that I’d potentially be taking the first ball … I was a bit gobsmacked,” she said.
“Coming into the squad, I wasn’t really expecting to play and then to be told I was opening the bowling, it was mixed emotions, I was pumped, I was nervous, I was excited.”
So, as she stood at the top of her mark listening as the countdown boomed across Sydney Showground, Strano took a brief moment to take it all in.
“Only three days before, I’d been thinking I would be watching this game from my couch at home,” she said.
“I thought I would be more nervous, but I’ve been playing first-class cricket for 10 years and I bowl in a similar position for the Renegades so it wasn’t completely foreign. But I was uncharacteristically calm.”
She bowled two overs in Australia’s 17-run loss to India for figures of 0-15 and her turn with the bat was ended with her run-out for two on the penultimate ball of the run chase.
Regardless of whether she makes the playing XI when Australia takes on Sri Lanka at the WACA on Monday afternoon, Strano is determined to continue enjoying herself.
“You have moments in the field when you look down and see the coat of arms on your chest and it’s a real pinch-yourself moment … I’m not quite sure whether I’ll be playing or not, either way I’m just so excited to be around this group, so whether that’s in a playing capacity or non-playing capacity I’ll grab it with both hands.”
AUSSIES INSIST NO NEED TO PANIC
Australia believe they have put a line under their opening loss to India in their T20 World Cup defence, though the proof will be in their response against Sri Lanka at the WACA on Monday.
Australia’s vice-captain Rachael Haynes described the 17-run to India as a “minor blip” with no real cause for concern.
“We have some world-class batters in our line-up and of those some world-class batters of spin too,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s any cause for concern – I think you’ll see our team really apply themselves and watch the ball really hard.
“Our team has a really measured approach and we’ll bring that to the table against Sri Lanka … they’re a dangerous side and certainly they’re capable of pushing us and putting us under pressure.”
But their opening loss does put added pressure on the team – lose another of their three remaining games against either Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and New Zealand and their semi-final aspirations would be on the ropes.
Weather forecasters have tipped a shower of two for Perth with a possible storm with rainfall between 3-15mm.
However Haynes said the side wasn’t concerned.
“You can’t control those types of things and at a big event like this, if there was rain around then the officials and the ground staff will do everything in their power to make sure that we get a game,” she said.
“We’ll just play what’s in front of us and if the match is affected, we’ll be prepared for that.
“The challenge that lies ahead of us is not too dissimilar to the challenge that a lot of teams face, that if you want to win the World Cup and be a part of it at the business end, you pretty much have to win five games of cricket.
“That’s what’s in front of us and that starts against Sri Lanka.”
Originally published as Molly Strano unfazed when asked to open bowling in match she’d planned to watch on TV