Australia opener Beth Mooney likely to make Perth home  

cricket.com.au. Mooney had a deal with reigning champions Brisbane Heat till the end of last season. She also helped her side win consecutive titles in the previous two seasons.

The signings for the upcoming season has not yet started and if the 26-year-old signs on the dotted lines for Perth, it will fill the void in their batting line-up which is expected to happen should Australian captain Meg Lanning return to Victoria as expected. There have been talks that Lanning will be moving to Melbourne Stars -- the side she captained in the first two WBBL seasons -- before spending the next three seasons with Scorchers.

The season has been fruitful for Mooney as she bagged the T20 World Cup player of the tournament award earlier in March scoring 259 runs at an average of 64.75 during Australia’s successful triumphant at home. The left-hander also had great WBBL season in 2018 when she was the second-best with 743 runs at an average of 74.3 only to New Zealand captain Sophie Devine’s 769 for the Strikers.

Mooney’s move to Scorchers will also unite her with Australian assistant coach Shelley Nitschke, who is set to take over as Perth head coach after Lisa Keightley moved to England late last year. Mooney's former Australian teammate Nicole Bolton is also there.

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However, both Heat and Scorchers have declined to comment on the move. “I’ve had a few really good offers from different clubs,” she said at the time. “I haven’t really got anywhere with a decision yet, but as I said at the end of the last Big Bash season, it would take a lot for me to not be playing at Brisbane," Mooney had said in April.

“But there’s also plenty of opportunities out there to play with different people and under different coaches, so I’ll keep my options open and hopefully have a decision in the next couple of weeks. I’ve loved my time at Brisbane … but I‘ve not been involved in any other program, apart from the Australian one, and it would be nice to see how different organisations operate. It’ll be a big decision either way, but hopefully, I make the right one,” she had said.

Besides, Mooney and Lanning, there are also some big Australian names who are out of contract ahead of WBBL season six. The Heat currently have only Australian allrounder Delissa Kimmince while others including Jess Jonassen, Grace Harris and Sammy-Jo Johnson are all out of the contract. Allrounder Sophie Molineux is also out of contract at Melbourne Renegades while star Ellyse Perry decided to stay at the Sydney Sixers.