Australia coach Matthew Mott is hopeful of the return of their key player Beth Mooney for the World Cup after she got hurt in jaw.
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Australia coach Matthew Mott is hopeful of the return of their key player Beth Mooney for the World Cup. However, his comments came as the star batter is undergoing surgery on a fractured jaw after an accident at training on Monday evening.
Mooney, the No.1 T20 batter and the leading run-scorer of WBBL 07, was facing throwdowns from Mott in the nets at Karen Rolton Oval in Australia’s first official training session when she got hit by the Australia coach described as a ‘rogue’ delivery as well.
The ball hit Mooney with enough force that she left in pain. She removed her helmet and left the nets too, while the medical staff were inspecting her. With swelling on her jaw, Beth Mooney went for scans which confirmed the injury and she will undergo surgery later today as well.
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While her return date will be confirmed after the operation, the injury puts her in doubt about her participation in the ODI World Cup campaign in New Zealand. For that, they will depart around February 10, but their first World Cup match will be on March 5.
“Beth was batting incredibly well and as can happen, just a rogue ball came up and put her in a tough position and she tried to get out of the way, but copped it on the side of the chin,” Mott said on Tuesday morning. “The good news is our doctors are pretty positive that the way that jaw surgeries are working these days, the come back time is a bit shorter.”
“She’s in good spirits … hopefully she gets that through that surgery well and we can find out exactly when she can re-enter the group. We’ll have to be smart about that and what it looks like for her and listen to the surgeons. But she’s an incredibly tough character. The ball hit her quite hard yesterday and her reaction was very stoic and all she asked for was a bit of water,” he again added.
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However, Beth Mooney has been in a prolific form for Australia across formats. Meanwhile, Adelaide Strikers’ opener Katie Mack, will miss the ‘A’ tour after testing positive for COVID-19 as well. On the other hand, Australia won’t get the service of spin stars Georgia Wareham (ACL) and Sophie Molineux (foot), but hopeful of the latter’s return in the World Cup.
Australia Ashes squad: Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes (VC), Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Meg Lanning (C), Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck
Fixture:
Jan 20: First T20, Adelaide Oval
Jan 22: Second T20, Adelaide Oval
Jan 23: Third T20, Adelaide Oval
Jan 27-30: Test match, Manuka Oval
Feb 3: First ODI, Manuka Oval
Feb 6: Second ODI, Junction Oval
Feb 8: Third ODI, Junction Oval
