Full circle for Mooney who notches yet another milestone

On February 27, 2017, Beth Mooney quietly marked a significant milestone in her burgeoning international career.

The then-23-year-old had debuted in the format one year earlier, scoring 53 in her first innings against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.

She had not quite been able to cement her place in the Australia XI over the 12 months that followed, however, hitting 5, 16, 14 and 20 in her next four appearances against the Kiwis and South Africa.

But a return to the Land of the Long White Cloud saw Mooney seize her opportunity: playing her seventh one-day international on the distinctly off-Broadway outer oval of Auckland’s Eden Park, Mooney brought up triple figures in the green and gold for the first time.

Her 100 from 123 balls was ultimately in a losing effort, in a match that also heralded Rachael Haynes’ long-awaited return to international cricket, but it marked the start of a run that would ultimately see Mooney dubbed ‘Ms Consistent’ for her remarkable reliability across all formats.

On Friday, Mooney will fittingly return to Eden Park for her 200th appearance for Australia across all formats.

This time, the trans-Tasman rivals will play on the main venue, in front of an audience – both live and beamed back to Australia – more befitting the occasion than would have witnessed that breakthrough innings in 2017.

Now 31, Mooney is at the peak of her powers.

In January she became Australia’s fourth-highest female run scorer across all formats, with her 6327 runs now behind only Meg Lanning (8,352), Ellyse Perry (7226) and Alyssa Healy (6741) ahead of her.

She became the fastest female player to 3000 T20I runs during the T20 World Cup in October, and heading into this week’s T20I series, Mooney is just 190 runs away from dislodging Lanning as Australia’s all-time leading run scorer in the shortest format.

"Moons has been amazing, just with her consistency across that that amount of time, 200 games is such a fantastic feat," Australia coach Shelley Nitschke said this week.

"I think the way the game's changed and Moons just keeps turning out the runs in different formats … she's just topped off a ton in a Test match now.

"To be able to be so consistent in everything she does across three formats, and in a time where the game continues to evolve and change, I think that's a massive effort."

Following her breakthrough one-day hundred in Auckland in 2017, Mooney described the milestone as "pretty cool" but was more concerned with the timing of her dismissal, ruing a late-innings collapse that ultimately left Australia short of a winning total.

Those impeccable standards, combined with Mooney’s blend of consistency and versatility – which sees her open in T20Is and bat in the middle-order in ODIs and Tests, while also taking the wicketkeeping gloves in place of Alyssa Healy when required – are just a few of the ingredients that make her one of the world’s best.

"She's the ultimate consistent performer," Australia captain Tahlia McGrath said in Auckland on Thursday.

"She gets us off to a brilliant start every time with the bat.

"She flies under the radar a bit, and she's stepped up for us this year with the gloves and is played a really good role for us there.

"She's great team person, always looking out for her teammates.

"She's such a hard worker – she knows her game inside out and she demands very high standards of herself, and she delivers time and time again.

"It's part of the reason this squad has been so successful and she's driving the way as well with how we want to keep pushing the bar out and keep pushing our standards."

CommBank T20I tour of New Zealand

Australia T20 squad: Tahlia McGrath (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

New Zealand T20 squad: Suzie Bates (c), Eden Carson, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Melie Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu

First T20 | March 21: Eden Park, Auckland

Second T20 | March 23: Bay Oval, Tauranga

Third T20 | March 26: Sky Stadium, Wellington

All games start at 12.45pm AEDT, 2.45pm NZDT and will be broadcast live on Foxtel and Kayo Sports