Women’s Ashes 2022: Beth Mooney suffers fractured jaw on eve of opening match against England

The Aussies are holding out hope she may return quickly, but the likelihood of star opener Beth Mooney playing any part in The Ashes series is now extremely low after she broke her jaw.

Beth Mooney has suffered a brokien jaw (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Aussie coach Matthew Mott is hopeful superstar batter Beth Mooney won’t miss the entire Ashes series after she suffered a broken jaw in a training accident on the eve of the showdown with England.

Mott was the man throwing balls to Mooney in the nets in Adelaide on Monday when one “reared up” and struck her on the chin “pretty hard”.

Mooney, the number one T20 batter in the world, stood at the back of nets for 15 minutes before being sent for X-rays which determined the left-hander needed surgery.

Beth Mooney will be sorely missded at the top of the Aussie order.

The multi-format series begins with the first of three T20s on Thursday and an assessment post-surgery will determine whether Mooney, who was also the leading run-scorer in the WBBL, can play any part.

“It’s one of those rogue incidents that can happen when you are throwing cricket balls. The good news is our doctors are pretty positive,” Mott said.

“The way jaw surgeries are happening these days the comeback times are a bit shorter. Hopefully she gets through that surgery well.

“We’re looking for her to play, Beth wants to play, but we’ll have to be smart about that.

“It’s very disappointing, poor timing. She’s an incredibly tough character, the ball hit her quite hard and her reaction was very stoic. Sher asked for a bit of water and was up the back of the nets for 15 minutes before she went for X-rays.

“She had good pain tolerance and is a real fighter so hopefully she gets back quick.”

A massive blow for Australia with star batter Beth Mooney to undergo surgery for a fractured jaw after a blow at training, while other changes to Australia's preparations have been forced by COVID-19 protocols.#Ashes | @CommBankpic.twitter.com/tZvhWcTPvM

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 18, 2022

A replacement batter for Mooney at the top of the Australian order could come from within the 15-player squad but Mott didn’t rule out calling on someone from outside the group.

He said that would be decided at a selection meeting on Tuesday night.

“This is a golden opportunity for a few people to put their hand up, there’s no reason it can’t come from outside the squad,” he said

Australia’s preparation for the series, which includes a Test match and three ODIs, has been hit with with two Covid positives amount the playing group.

Spinner Molly Strano and batter Katie Mack, a member of the Australia A squad, won’t travel to Adelaide after testing positive.

Superstar all-rounder Ellyse Perry also missed Australia’s warm-up matches against Australia A at Karen Rolton Oval on Tuesday and is expected to arrive in Adelaide later than planned.

Mott said “scattered” was the best way to describe the lead-in with players arriving in small parties, at different times, which also impacted training.

Beth Mooney talks about her pathway from Queensland's Hervey Bay region to state cricket and becoming a key member of the world-beating Aussie team | @Toyota_Auspic.twitter.com/2UrxS94nMt

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 15, 2022

“We’ve done as well as we can with people coming and going. Protocols have almost dominates discussions,” he said.

“This is when we kick in to cricket mode. We’ve done a lot of workshopping on what can and can’t happen.

“I think we’ve moved past trying to avoid Covid completely. We’ve tried to keep as separated as much as we can for as long as we can. There’s going to be cases, there are probably more to come.

“We’ll endure what we have to endure. We know we are in for a tough three months.”

Australia are already missing spin stars Georgia Wareham (ACL) and Sophie Molineux (foot) for the Ashes. Molineux could yet return for the one-day World Cup in New Zealand in March.

Mack will remain at home in Canberra ahead of the Australia A 50-matches against England A, while Strano will travel direct to Canberra once she completes her period of isolation at home in Hobart.

South Australia and Melbourne Renegades all-rounder Courtney Webb has been called into the Australia A squad as cover for Strano and Mack.

Originally published as Women’s Ashes 2022: Beth Mooney suffers fractured jaw on eve of opening match against England