Australia's Sophie Molineux Takes Break Over Mental Health

Molineux is currently playing for Melbourne Renegades in the Women’s Big Bash League and has requested to take some time off

Cricket Australia (CA) is currently surmounted by cases where its cricketers are dealing with mental health issues. Three of the male cricketers have already taken some time away from the game and recently, woman all-rounder Sophie Molineux has requested for a break. Molineux is currently playing for Melbourne Renegades in the Women’s Big Bash League and has requested to take some time off, in order to focus on her mental health and well-being. Renegades have officially accepted Molineux’s request and will make one change to their lineup ahead of this weekend’s derby fixture at Eastern Oval in Ballarat against the Stars.

Sophie Molineux will not take the field for the Renegades this weekend after requesting time away from cricket to focus on her mental health and well being. With you all the way, Soph ❤️ https://t.co/FUSZPcipKL

— Rebel Women's Big Bash League (@WBBL) November 22, 2019

Renegades head coach Tim Coyle said Molineux had the club’s full support. “Sophie knows her teammates and the Renegades coaches and support staff are always there for her. We’ll give Sophie the time, space and any support she needs,” Coyle said. Molineux has represented Australia in one Test, three ODIs and 17 T20Is. Recently, three Australian male cricketers decided to take a break from cricket in order to focus on their mental health. Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson and Will Pucovski took a break from playing in order to boost their mental well-being. Recently, England all-rounder Moeen Ali had stated that there’s too much of cricket being played at the moment because of which players are becoming mentally tired. “There’s so much cricket played at the moment. Mentally, you become tired. You feel drained up doing the same warm-up and other things while playing the game,” Moeen said.