Join now and get your first month for just $1 ><\/a><\/p>\nBeth Mooney of Australia takes a catch during the 2022 Ashes Test. Photo by Mark Kolbe\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Mooney has already eyed the police force as a potential career option beyond cricket, joining the Queensland Police Service for a five-day stint during the 2023 off-season. In one of the training drills, she volunteered to be attacked by a police dog while wearing a bite guard on her arm.<\/p>\n
Renowned for her mental fortitude on the cricket field, Mooney\u2019s defiant nature will no doubt come to the fore over the coming five weeks in the subcontinent, where Australia will fight to defend their World Cup title.<\/p>\n
The Queensland-born Western Australia representative is worryingly susceptible to heatstroke when batting in hot, humid conditions \u2013 teammate Megan Schutt jokes she often \u201cbecomes a tomato\u201d when the mercury rises, turning bright red in the face during lengthy stays at the crease.<\/p>\n
During last year\u2019s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, teammates were rushing ice packs and umbrellas out to the middle in a desperate attempt to lower Mooney\u2019s body temperature and settle her heart rate, which has reached 215 beats per minute.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old may once again need help from her teammates during the World Cup, with Australia\u2019s campaign getting underway against trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand at Indore\u2019s Holkar Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Beth Mooney of Australia cools down with an ice pack. Photo by Matthew Lewis-ICC\/ICC via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Australia are the defending champions, having won the previous edition of the tournament in 2022, during which Mooney averaged 110.00 with a strike rate of 100.91. Across the three years since, she has been Australia\u2019s leading ODI run-scorer with 1036 runs at 49.33.<\/p>\n
Last week, Mooney sent a timely warning to her World Cup rivals by cracking a 57-ball century against hosts India on a flat deck in Delhi, with her career-best 138 (75) steering Australia towards a record-breaking total of 412.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully there aren\u2019t too many flat wickets like that at the World Cup, because I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve got the stamina to last seven or eight games like that going the full distance,\u201d she said of the rapid knock.<\/p>\n
Mooney also recently became the first Australian woman to score a century in all three formats, achieving the feat with a Test hundred during February\u2019s Ashes Test at the MCG. Having been told early in her career she\u2019d never succeed as a T20 player, her versatility across formats is something she\u2019s particularly proud of.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn reflection, I\u2019ve allowed myself to be proud of the things I\u2019ve achieved in my career,\u201d Mooney said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was young I probably got told by a few people that I was never going to play T20 cricket for Australia, so of course I wanted to go out there and prove those people wrong. To be known as a player who can adapt their game across all formats and still be successful is pretty cool, and hopefully it\u2019s not the end of my run-scoring in the Test arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just always wanted to be a player that the team and the staff look at that can change the game and have an impact on the result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia’s Beth Mooney celebrates scoring her maiden Test century.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
Last year, Australia was knocked out in the semi-finals at the T20 World Cup by South Africa, ending a staggering era of dominance from Alyssa Healy\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
Four-time World Cup champion Mooney acknowledged there was an element of luck involved in T20 tournaments \u2013 one misstep is all that\u2019s needed for a team\u2019s campaign to come to a crashing halt, with powerhouse nations Australia and England each eliminated after a lone defeat.<\/p>\n
And after sealing a historic 16-0 Ashes whitewash over England earlier this year, the Australians are eager to re-establish themselves as the best team in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cNotoriously, T20 World Cups are pretty difficult to win,\u201d Mooney explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t take much to go wrong for you to be missing out on that trophy, which we obviously found out last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut because you play everyone (in the 50-over World Cup), the best team across that period of time generally comes out on top. There\u2019s nothing like playing everyone across five weeks, every country. You get the opportunity to problem-solve as you go, and if you get to the pointy end of the competition, your best is probably going to match it with the other teams through the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst it\u2019s challenging, it\u2019s quite rewarding as well, because you know at the end of it you\u2019re the best team in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mooney, who averages 63.00 with a strike rate of 119.62 across nine ODIs in India, looms as the crucial figure in Australia\u2019s middle order ahead of the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of the Women\u2019s Premier League, which enters its fourth season this summer, Mooney is well-accustomed to the subcontinent\u2019s unique conditions. Having also featured in the United Kingdom\u2019s Hundred competition, the growth of T20 leagues across the globe has been immensely beneficial.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunities are endless for us now,\u201d Mooney continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ability to go overseas, play with a different group of people, different coaching staff, learn about the game through a different lens, from my point of view, has been really beneficial for my own game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s developing players at a far quicker rate than when I grew up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beth Mooney of Australia. Photo by Phil Walter\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Mooney also relishes the opportunity to immerse herself in India\u2019s culture off the field, albeit confessing it can be \u201cquite overwhelming at times\u201d. But when she feels comfortable doing so, she\u2019ll drag her teammates out of the hotel and hunt for a local cafe that can make \u201ca decent coffee\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndia is just a different kettle of fish,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe culture is amazing if you allow yourself to be immersed in it. The people are lovely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a breath of fresh air. You gain a new perspective when you spend some time in India and realise how lucky we have it here. They love their cricket over there. It\u2019s like a religion to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, if you allow yourself to enjoy it, it\u2019s an incredible experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The World Cup kicks off a frantic nine months for the Australian women\u2019s team, which includes the Women\u2019s Big Bash League, the WPL, multi-format tours of India and the West Indies before another T20 World Cup in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
While the schedule can at times be exhausting, Mooney feels \u201cblessed\u201d every time she dons the canary yellow.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust as long as I\u2019ve got a couple of days here and there to come home to my house and my dog and a bit of normality, that\u2019s all I need,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty lucky to do what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s World Cup opener against the White Ferns gets underway on Wednesday at 7.30pm AEST.<\/p>\n
Additional reporting from Courtney Walsh<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Women\u2019s World Cup squad<\/p>\n
Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s World Cup fixtures<\/p>\n
October 1 vs New Zealand, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 7.30pm AEST<\/p>\n
October 4 vs Sri Lanka, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7.30pm AEST<\/p>\n
October 8 vs Pakistan, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8.30pm AEDT<\/p>\n
October 12 vs India, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8.30pm AEDT<\/p>\n
October 16 vs Bangladesh, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8.30pm AEDT<\/p>\n
October 22 vs England, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8.30pm AEDT<\/p>\n
October 25 vs South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8.30pm AEDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beth Mooney is regarded as Australia\u2019s toughest cricketer \u2013 and for good reason. On the eve of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-181046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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