Brisbane Heat wicketkeeper Beth Mooney named ICC T20 player of the year

BRISBANE Heat wicketkeeper Beth Mooney has been crowned the world’s best Twenty20 player.

Beth Mooney hits a boundary at North Sydney Oval.

HEAT wicketkeeper Beth Mooney has been crowned the world’s best Twenty20 player.

Mooney took out the honour, along with the emerging player of the year, in the International Cricket Council’s annual awards.

Mooney was the player of the tournament in last summer’s Women’s Big Bash League and continued her hot form for Australia in the recent Ashes series, posting unbeaten scores of 86 and 117 during the Twenty20 contests.

Beth Mooney hits a boundary at North Sydney Oval.

The Heat’s West Indies import Deandra Dottin was also named in the ICC Women’s T20 team of the year while Ellyse Perry was crowned the cricketer of the year.

The Heat will take on the Renegades in Melbourne today in the first of back-to-back matches over the next two days.

Brisbane has made a solid start to the WBBL season, splitting the first round clashes against the highly-rated Perth Scorchers.

The structure of the WBBL draw sees teams play the same opposition twice, usually within a few days, before moving on to the next opponent.

Heat star Deandra Dottin was named in the ICC Women’s T20 team of the year.

There were few teams to lodge two victories against the same opponent last summer but that is something the Heat want to change.

“The difficult thing last year was getting back-to-back wins,” coach Peter McGiffin said.

“The way the draw is structured — you play the same team two games in a row — so if you get a win in the first game it makes it very difficult to get a win in the second game.

“That’s the way it was for everyone last year except maybe the Sydney Sixers (champions). A lot of teams who won the first game lost the second.

“It’s about trying to be consistent right across the board. It’s a massive thing for us.”

After a shaky start to the season, there were some promising signs for the Heat in last week’s win against the Scorchers.

Their bowling attack fired, restricting Perth to 112 in 20 overs, before batters Kirby Short and Dottin guided the team to a comfortable six-wicket win.

The Heat have a well balanced squad to take them deep in the competition this summer and McGiffin said it was now about putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.

“We bat deep and eight of the players can bowl,” he said.

“That gives us a fair bit of variety. It’s about knowing when you use that variety and balance.

“It’s about getting the right combinations and everyone firing at the right time.

“We’re heading in the right direction. When you execute your plans you build confidence and self-belief, so I’d like to think our bowlers are in a good headspace.”

Saturday’s match will be played as a curtain raiser to the men’s clash at Etihad Stadium.