Molly takes leading role
Skipper to test tourists
FORMER Kardinia College student Molly Strano says she is looking forward to mixing things up next week when she leads a Cricket Australia XI in a tour match against England.
The vice-captain of the Vic Spirit and Melbourne Renegades teams was selected as captain of the side on the same day the Australian squads were named for the multi-format Ashes series to be played in October and November.
The 24-year-old, who impressed in her international debut series against New Zealand this year, said she had a few ideas up her sleeve she was keen to try against the tourists.
“I haven’t really captained a side before so I was really honoured to be given the thumbs up there,” Strano said.
“I’ve got a few out-of-thebox ideas, so I’m excited to throw some things up and implement some things against England and hopefully I do all right. Hopefully I can lead the team in a way that helps us cause a few upsets over the next couple of games.
“It will be a really good challenge, I’m really excited and I’m a bit of a competitive beast so I’d love to get out there and test my skills against the English girls and see how I stack up against them.
“It’s a really good opportunity, not just for me but all the girls to test themselves against the best team in the world.”
Strano has been in fine form for the Spirit in the opening matches of the WNCL season, taking six wickets at an average of 13 in two one-day games and averaging 41 with the bat.
The off-spinner said while she was not shocked to be left out of the Ashes squad, it was encouraging selectors had spoken with her about what steps she needed to take to put her name up in lights for future national selection.
“They communicated to me that my bowling is going along fine but they wanted me to be a bit of a three-facet player and try to contribute a bit more with the bat,” she said.
“That was communicated pretty clearly to me that I had to present myself as a bowling allrounder if I want to break into the squad. So that’s something I will go back to state cricket and training and work on.
“I open the batting in club cricket and have had a couple of good seasons on the trot but I’ve just struggled to make that jump up to making consistent runs at first-class level.
“It’s obviously a little bit harder with the standard rising, but I’ve just got to produce some more runs on the firstclass stage and hopefully that can help out with selection in future tournaments.”
The Cricket Australia XI will face England in two matches in Brisbane on Monday and Wednesday.