Mooney's extra miles starting to pay off

A new focus on fitness has Australia opener Beth Mooney primed to take on the world’s best bowlers at next month’s Women’s World Cup in the United Kingdom.

Mooney enjoyed a breakthrough series against New Zealand the last time Australia were in action in March, scoring 226 runs at 75.33 in three matches, including her maiden international century.

Before that series, the Queenslander – who made her Australian debut in January last year – was averaging just 16.46 from 15 international innings across both limited-overs formats.

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“I’d got to a point where I was scoring runs but I couldn’t quite get a big score and nail that monkey off my back,” Mooney told cricket.com.au.

“I knew my fitness was something I had to work on, so I was always looking to do more running and more in the gym.

“It’s nice not to have 20 people ahead of me all the time and I can hold my own against some of the fitter people in the group.

“A year ago I probably wouldn’t have been able to bat all day like I did in New Zealand in the first game and score a hundred.”

While those fitness gains were paying off on the domestic circuit during the 2016-17 summer, with Mooney named WBBL|02 player of the season, the 23-year-old still headed to New Zealand under immense pressure, knowing she needed to break through for a big international score if she wanted to cement the spot she was coveting at the top of the Australia order alongside Nicole Bolton.

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Determined to repay the faith of Australia’s selectors, who persisted with the Queenslander despite scores of 1, 4 and 1 in the T20 series that immediately preceded the ODIs, Mooney’s 226-run ODI campaign was the third-most productive ever by a Southern Stars batter in a three-game ODI series.

“It was probably my best series so far in my career and in a few years, I might look back on it as what hopefully started a long and consistent career for Australia for me," she said. 

“The selectors had backed me finally to open in those T20s and I let them down a bit, so I was keen to nail that opening spot and hopefully I’ve done that.

“I think Nicole Bolton and I work well together, we’re both left-handers but we’re different batters in how we play our game and we complement each other.

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“So hopefully if we’re given the opportunity again we’ll see some nice big scores at the top of the order and get the team off to a good start.”

Outside of the gym and the running track, Mooney has also embraced road cycling – although her efforts to convert some of her teammates to the pursuit might not have been so successful.

“It’s helped me a lot and I’ve come a long way,” she said.

“I’ve been enjoying it and trying to get a few others on board, Alex (Blackwell) came along one day because she thought it would be an active recovery ride, but it ended up being a bit harder than that, up and down the hills.

“I don’t think I’ll have any friends riding with me again anytime soon after her feedback.”

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Mooney also hasn’t been caught up in her successes in New Zealand, instead working hard at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane to ensure she’s ready to fire when Australia’s World Cup campaign gets underway in Taunton on June 26.

“One thing for me is just the tempo of my batting and being aware of when’s the right time to score boundary and when the right time is to milk singles," she added.

“I’ve been trying to work on the pace of my innings a bit, getting on strike more and opening up a few more scoring shots.

“So you might see a few different ones from me this season, I hope.

“It’s been a nice chance to work on a few different shots I wouldn’t normally play and take a few more risks as well.”

Australia will spend next week on the Sunshine Coast for a final week of training ahead of their departure for the UK on June 10.

Australia's World Cup schedule

June 26: Australia v West Indies, Taunton

June 29: Australia v Sri Lanka, Bristol

July 2: Australia v New Zealand, Bristol

July 5: Australia v Pakistan, Leicester

July 9: Australia v England, Bristol

July 12: Australia v India, Bristol

July 15: Australia v South Africa, Taunton

July 18: First semi-final, Bristol

July 20: Second semi-final, Derby

July 23: Final, Lord's

Commonwealth Bank Women’s Ashes schedule

October 22: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane

October 26: Second ODI, Coffs Intl Stadium, Coffs Harbour 

October 29: Third ODI, Coffs Intl Stadium, Coffs Harbour 

November 9-12: Day-night Test, North Sydney Oval, Sydney

November 17: First T20I: North Sydney Oval, Sydney

November 19: First T20I: Manuka Oval, Canberra

November 21: First T20I: Manuka Oval, Canberra