A favourite daughter is returning to Premier Cricket club Essendon Maribyrnong Park
Premier Cricket club Essendon Maribyrnong Park has received a massive boost with the return of an Australian international and club icon.
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She’s coming home.
Not the World Cup to England, Molly Strano to Essendon Maribyrnong Park.
In a massive boost to the Victorian Premier Cricket club, Strano returns to Victoria and there was only one club she was signing for.
The 32-year-old has played seven T20 internationals for Australia.
In 2020, she was called up to Australia’s World Cup squad, playing the first two matches of the competition but ultimately missing selection for the final win.
Later that year she was the first player to take 100 wickets in the Women’s Big Bash.
The off-spinner moved to Tasmania in 2021-22 and was part of the state’s hat-trick of Women’s National Cricket League premierships in 2021–22, 2022–23 and 2023–24.
Essendon Maribyrnong Park secretary Erini Gianakopoulos said her impact at the club couldn’t be understated.
“The rumours have been around for a while, so it’s probably the worst kept secret,” Gianakopoulos.
“She’s the homecoming queen and not just an Uber driver for the oldies in Bay 13.
“She’s someone who, the impact that she has on culture around the club can’t be measured.
“Just having her back in the state, being around the club and then back on the field is a massive boost.
“We’ve certainly missed her dearly.”
Strano’s return to Victoria’s NWCL squad was confirmed on Tuesday.
Aberfeldie Park was her only Premier destination.
The Bombers have fallen on hard times in the past two seasons since winning the one-day premiership in 2022-23.
The club won seven games between the one-day and T20 competitions in 2023-24 and just three this season as rival clubs and states pillaged its talent.
“It was never in doubt, I think the Bay 13 crew would probably hunt her down if there was any temptation (to sign elsewhere),” Gianakopoulos said.
“We’ve missed a lot of experience in the last few years.
“We had a lot of retirements and interstate moves in one go and we didn’t feel the affects of that until the last couple of years.
“The leadership and experience that comes with her presence around the place will be a massive boost.
“We were blessed for so long to have so many amazing leaders around the club and we probably took that for granted, so we’re doing some work to regenerate in that space.”
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EMP is also looking for a new coach after Wayne Myers departed at the end of the season and has a “couple of things in the works” as it looks to further bolster its on-field playing stocks.
Despite EMP’s struggles, captain Makinley Blows continues to lead with way, scoring 439 runs at 48.78 in the one-day competition – ranked third overall – and 187 runs in the T20s, ranked second.
Tia Davidge ranked eighth with 336 runs.
Ira Aery topped the club’s wicket-taking charts in both one-dayers and T20 with 15 wickets at 22.67 and six at 17 respectively.
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