Bethany Louise Mooney (born 14 January 1994) is an Australian professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who plays for the national cricket team as a batter in all three formats of the game. At the domestic level, she plays as a

wicket-keeper-batter A wicket-keeper-batter is a type of player in cricket who fields primarily as a wicket-keeper and is particularly adept as a batsman. While they offer a similar advantage to a team as an all-rounder, that term is usually used to refer to players ...

for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and

Perth Scorchers The Perth Scorchers is an Australian domestic Twenty20 franchise cricket team representing the Western Australian city of Perth in the Big Bash League (BBL). The Scorchers are the current BBL Champions, having defeated the Sydney Sixers in the ...

. In March 2020, at the conclusion of the

ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women's Day. Hosts Aus ...

, she became the world's number one batter in

Women's Twenty20 International Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twent ...

(WT20I) cricket.

Early life and career

Mooney was born in Shepparton,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. She has a brother, Tom, and a sister, Gabrielle. As a child, she played many sports, ranging from soccer to

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and Australian rules football. Shortly before her eighth birthday, she was invited to fill-in for her brother's cricket team; that invitation turned into her making regular appearances for Kialla Lakes Cricket Club. When Mooney was 10 years old, she and her family moved to

Hervey Bay Hervey Bay () is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to ...

, Queensland, where she attended Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School and Xavier Catholic College. Early in the mornings before school in Hervey Bay, she and her father would go riding their bikes along the Esplanade, and

sea kayak A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They trade off the man ...

ing with their dog. Mooney did not start playing cricket in Queensland until a year after her move. At that year's Hervey Bay Zone trials, she was identified as the best catcher in her team, and was advised by the team's coach to try wicket-keeping. She was then selected as a wicket-keeper for the Queensland Primary School girls team, and later progressed through higher level junior Queensland girls teams. Meanwhile, she played for Hervey Bay's boys' Cavaliers team until she was 18 years old, as there were no girls cricket teams in rural areas. By the time she was about 13, Mooney was already being tipped to play cricket for Australia. She also made really good friends in cricket, and that kept her in the game, as did her enjoyment of travelling to Brisbane and national competitions, and missing school for a few days to play. Additionally, she felt that interstate girls cricket was a step up from the men's cricket she was playing in Hervey Bay. Upon leaving school, Mooney started a teaching degree. However, she quit her studies in 2014 to focus on cricket, after realising that she would have only one chance to make it in the game.

Domestic and franchise career

2021–22 WBBL PS v AS 21-10-30 Mooney (03)

Mooney made her debut for the

Queensland Fire The Queensland Women cricket team, also known as the Konica Minolta Queensland Fire, is the women's representative cricket team for the Australian State of Queensland. They play most of their home games at Allan Border Field, Brisbane and they ...

in the

Women's National Cricket League The Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) is the national domestic 50-over competition for women's cricket in Australia. Featuring seven teams—one from every state, plus the Australian Capital Territory—each season's winner is awarded the ...

four days after her 16th birthday in 2010. Currently, she plays as a wicket-keeper/batter for

and

. In November 2018, Mooney was named in

Brisbane Heat The Brisbane Heat are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Big Bash League. The Heat wears a teal uniform and are based in Brisbane in the Australian state Queensland. Their home ground is the Br ...

's squad for the

2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season The 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL, 04 was the fourth season of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), the semi-professional women's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament ran from 1 December 2018 to 26 ...

(WBBL, 04). During the final of the WBBL, 04 tournament, held on a sweltering

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

2019, she overcame a dizziness-inducing illness to score a

player of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

-winning 65 runs from 46 balls. (However, the opposition

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...

Alyssa Healy Alyssa Jean Healy (born 24 March 1990) is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Australian women's national team and New South Wales in domestic cricket, as well as the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL. She made her international debut in Februa ...

appeared to

sledge A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...

Mooney during her innings, saying on the player mic, "It's actually not that hot out here") Her innings inspired the Heat to its maiden Women's Big Bash title, with a three-wicket victory over the heavily favoured

Sydney Sixers The Sydney Sixers are an Australian professional franchise men's cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). Along with the Sydney Thunder, the Sixers are the successors of the New ...

. On 21 November 2020, Mooney became the first player to score 3000 runs in the

Women's Big Bash League The Women's Big Bash League (known as the WBBL and, for sponsorship reasons, the Weber WBBL) is the Australian women's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition. The WBBL replaced the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup, which ran from the 2007–08 ...

competition. In April 2022, she was bought by the London Spirit for the 2022 season of The Hundred in England.

International career

Mooney was a member of the victorious Southern Stars squad that won the

2014 ICC World Twenty20 The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 was the fifth ICC World Twenty20 competition, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament, that took place in Bangladesh from 16 March to 6 April 2014. It was played in three cities — Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. ...

title in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. Mooney played her first game for the

Australia women's national cricket team The Australian women's national cricket team (formerly also known as the Southern Stars) represent Australia in international women's cricket. Currently captained by Meg Lanning and coached by Shelley Nitschke, they are the top team in all wor ...

in a

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

match against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

on 26 January 2016 at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

. On 26 February 2017, she scored her maiden

Women's One Day International Women's One Day International (WODI) is the limited overs form of women's cricket. Matches are scheduled for 50 overs, equivalent to the men's game. The first women's ODIs were played in 1973, as part of the first Women's World Cup which was ...

(WODI) hundred against New Zealand. She made her

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut for Australia Women against England Women on 9 November 2017 in the

Women's Ashes The Women's Ashes is the perpetual trophy in women's international cricket series between England and Australia. The name derives from the historic precedent of the Ashes in male cricket and, until 2013, was similarly decided exclusively on the ...

2017–18 W Ashes A v E Test 17-11-10 Mooney (04)

In December 2017, she won both the inaugural ICC T20I Player of the Year and Emerging Player of the Year awards. In April 2018, she was one of the fourteen players to be awarded a national contract for the 2018–19 season by

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...

. In October 2018, she was named in Australia's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West In ...

tournament in the West Indies. In April 2019,

awarded her with a contract ahead of the 2019–20 season. In June 2019, Cricket Australia named her in Australia's team for their tour to England to contest the

. In January 2020, she was named in Australia's squad for the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women's Day. Hosts ...

in Australia. In Australia's match against

, Mooney and

combined for an opening partnership of 151 runs, the highest partnership for Australia Women for any wicket in a WT20I match. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, Mooney top-scored for Australia, finishing unbeaten on 78 off 54 balls to help Australia win their fifth title. Mooney also finished as the tournament's leading runs scorer with 259 runs, including the most fours (30), and was named player of the tournament. In February 2021, Mooney voiced her ambition to eventually succeed

as the national team's first choice wicket-keeper. On 15 April 2021, Mooney was named as the ''Wisden'' Leading Woman Cricketer in the World for her performances the previous year. On the same day, it was announced that she had retained her Australian central contract. In January 2022, Mooney was named in Australia's squad for their series against England to contest the

. Later the same month, she was named in Australia's team for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand. In May 2022, Mooney was named in Australia's team for the cricket tournament at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England.

Playing style

Interviewers have described Mooney as "flying under the radar", something she prefers to do. However, she admitted in June 2020 that in light of her recent success on the field, keeping a low profile was going to be more difficult. She also said that "... it's all good if I can’t!"

International centuries

One Day International centuries

T20 International centuries

References

External links

* *
Beth Mooney
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooney, Beth 1994 births Living people Cricketers from Victoria (Australia) Sportswomen from Victoria (Australia) Australia women Test cricketers Australia women One Day International cricketers Australia women Twenty20 International cricketers Brisbane Heat (WBBL) cricketers Northern Districts women cricketers Queensland Fire cricketers Yorkshire Diamonds cricketers Yorkshire women cricketers Perth Scorchers (WBBL) cricketers IPL Trailblazers cricketers Wisden Leading Woman Cricketers in the World Wicket-keepers Cricketers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in cricket London Spirit cricketers Western Australia women cricketers Australian expatriate sportspeople in England