There are not many players quite like Beth Mooney in women's cricket. One cannot put her in a box. Since the start of her career in early 2016, she has done what was required for Australia. Be it opening the batting with fellow left-hander Nicole Bolton at the start of her career in ODIs or dropping down the order once team management decided to give Alyssa Healy a go at opening after the 2017 World Cup, Mooney has done it all for the team. Whatever role she has been asked to do, with the bat, in the field, or even behind the stumps, Mooney has not just accepted it but she has excelled at that.
Maybe it has all been by design and not just something that happened accidentally. Kirby Short, one of Mooney's close friends and her captain at Brisbane Heat, knows this better than anyone else. She remembers meeting the teenager walking into the Queensland setup. "The first time I met Beth, she was a teenager who had been brought into the Queensland Fire set up by our coach, Andy Richards," she told this daily.
Despite proving herself as a genuine performer in the domestic setup and making it to the Australian squad, for almost two years, Mooney ran drinks as Australia won the 2014 T20 World Cup. She was part of the squad that had some of the best players in the world for specific roles. The likes of Meg Lanning, Alex Blackwell, Alyssa Healy and Jess Cameron meant Mooney had the slimmest of chances to make it the playing XI. It was only in January 2016 that the window of opportunity opened, and she made her international debut against India.
Short believes that the wait game played a role in making Mooney the player she is. A clear message from then head coach Matthew Mott to work on her fitness pushed the left-hander to be her best. "Seems like a lifetime ago when she wasn’t sure if she’d 'make it.’ It was actually a big decision for her to stop studying and quit her part-time job at a grocery store and work hard, particularly on her fitness, to try and create an opportunity for herself. She flipped a switch during that period," Short added.
And even after all of this, given the superstars in that Australian squad, Mooney does go under the radar. Short believes that is also by design. "She definitely likes flying under the radar; it suits her personality! Given her extensive skill set, she’s able to play multiple roles, which makes her valuable for the team she’s in. Added to that, she enjoys the challenge of getting better and evolving her game. Ultimately, she just wants to contribute to and feel valued by any team she is in," Short mentioned.
Mooney's fitness, ability to play the role she is required to and a complete mastery over her skills were on full display in the recently concluded women's Ashes when she not only took over wicket keeping duties from captain Healy but also scored 409 runs across seven innings, the most by any in the multi-format series, including a century in Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. With that, she became the first Australian woman to score centuries in all three formats. "It was special. I have played a little bit of Test cricket but not a lot of it. I was pretty pumped to have gotten over the line there. More importantly, I was glad that we got over the line as a group in the fashion that we did," Mooney told this daily after the series.
When asked about what makes her take on challenges of different roles and still produce her best, Mooney kept it simple. And as if to underline how it has all been by design. "I think I take pride in the fact that I can offer different opportunities to coaching staff and selectors in the line up. You never want to pigeonhole yourself as a player. You want to come to the party in all different facets of the game. I have been fortunate enough to do that and get those opportunities provided by the selectors. Just happy to play the role and get the job done whenever required," she said as a matter of fact.
Throughout the Women's Premier League, the world has witnessed the same Beth Mooney. Away from the captaincy duties that clearly bogged her down in the previous season, the 31-year-old has done her job for the Gujarat Giants. She is the second-highest run scorer of her team, just behind captain Ashleigh Gardner.
Off the field, Mooney has found her peace. Short believes she just wants to get better no matter what the results are. "She will choose to share successes (and struggles) with those who are closest to her. She is obviously quite a private person, happy in her own space with her support network away from cricket. She never gets too excited or too unhappy about results these days; just keeps looking for ways to improve," and so far, it is working for Mooney.
Nine years since her debut for Australia, Mooney is already one of the top five run scorers for her country across formats. In the women's Ashes, she went past the giant of Australian batting and fellow left-hander, Karen Rolton. If you ask Mooney, none of it has sunk in for her. A self-proclaimed "Boring Beth" is yet to come to terms with what she has achieved as an individual.
"As humans, and especially athletes, we are always worried about what is next. Sometimes, it is difficult to sit down and be proud of what you have achieved. It will be easy for me when I am done playing and have packed the kitbag up. But I am certainly relishing the experience. In this line of work, you would miss it when it's gone, but I am just trying to make the most of it. I am sure that down the track, when the time comes, I will take a lot of pride in what I have been able to do," Mooney said with the widest grin on her face.
With the Giants winning four matches in this season (they won two each in the first two seasons) and qualifying for the knockouts for the first time, this is their chance to make it all count. And Mooney, certainly, has a big role to play. Like she has always done for every team she has played for. By design.