Australian Beth Mooney bats for more Tests in women’s calendar  

“There’s always (the) financial or the revenue driven side of things that act as a barrier, but we always get asked (as a playing group) about any innovative ideas that we have to see what we could come up with,” Mooney was quoted as saying to Sport Siren. “We really enjoy the Ashes multi-format series that we play, and I sort of wonder if potentially, we could play that against other countries.

“So that could be one way that we get more Test matches in, we play that multi-format series against the top three or four countries around the world like New Zealand, India and South Africa. In turn, that would get more tests in a sort of biannual year, and obviously more countries around the world playing test match cricket in the female space,” she added.

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Growing up watching not many women’s cricket and mostly men’s Test matches, Mooney thinks that playing in whites is not only is an ultimate test for a cricketer but also brings the best out of people. “I think as a nineties baby growing up in the era of not much women’s cricket on TV. I grew up watching it and loved it, I love the battle of it, the skill it takes, the mental capacity it takes. Obviously I’d love to play more of it, I think it’s the ultimate test of not only an athlete but as a cricketer and it really brings out the best in people,” she added.

“So to pit yourself against the best and see if you’re up for it is definitely something I’d love to do more of and as a team, we’d love to do more of so hopefully, in the next ten years, that’s the goal.” The star of the T20 World Cup final against India at the MCG, Mooney also believes that moment will be talked about for years to come.

“It will be a moment that’s talked about for years to come and it’s pretty special to have been a part of that and contributed to the success of that,” said the right-hander. “I actually think something like that will take years to sink in. As athletes and as humans, we are always moving on to what’s next. And obviously the COVID situation meant that we sort of got home and we’re not really sure what’s next. There’s been a state of limbo.”

Mooney not only contributed to the success but was named Player of the Tournament. She set a new record for most runs scored by an individual in a women’s T20 World Cup, breaking teammate and captain Meg Lanning’s previous record of 259 runs at 64.75 across six innings from 2014. This included an unbeaten 78 from 54 deliveries in the final, showing calm and strength under pressure on the world’s biggest stage, as well as her 81 not out against Bangladesh and hitting 60 against New Zealand.

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“We’ve got a series against New Zealand at the end of the year and the ODI World Cup after that. So, as humans, we pretty quickly move on. It’s probably not until a long time after the moment do you realise the impact that it had on you and on the people around you. So I’d say it might take a little while, but I think for that everyone that was either there involved, as an organiser, as a coach, as an athlete, as a spectator, as a fan, I think it’ll be one of those moments where people talk about, ‘were you there?’, ‘were you there to see the Australian team when they first walkout in front of the record crowd at the MCG?’."

Speaking about the recent changes in the Cricket Australia administration, Mooney said, “It’s (a) really sad and disappointing time for us as a team and a broader community at Cricket Australia. “You never want to see humans suffer and go through troubling times for themselves and their family. And you know, no organisation, no sport, no city or country has been untouched, so I guess it’s just really unfortunate when it happens to people who are part of your life and part of your organisation. It’s just a bit sad that it’s come to this point, and hopefully, it never happens again.”

“We’ve had a few meetings as a group, we’re across the fact that there’s going to be cuts made to programs, and we know that there needs to be a bit more of an efficient way to run elite programs around the country for high performance. As players we’re certainly looking forward to making sure we can do whatever we can to help facilitate that change and make sure that we’re still the number one team in the world, and are good role models for kids coming through,” she concluded.