Insight: How Australia’s toughest cricketer Beth Mooney played through pain of broken jaw

She’s widely recognised as the No.1 batter in women’s cricket, but few realised just how tough Beth Mooney was – until she padded up a week after X-rays revealed a sickening injury.

From being attacked by angry dogs, playing with a broken jaw and soldiering on through a sensitive family fallout, this much is known about Beth Mooney: she’s tough.

When Mooney took to the stage to accept her second Belinda Clark medal at Randwick Racecourse earlier this year, the 29-year-old broke down when acknowledging the private support network that has fuelled her rise to being recognised as the No.1 batter in women’s international cricket.

“They say you can’t choose your family, but in some cases you can,” Mooney said on stage.

“I’ve been fortunate enough in the last few years living in Brisbane to be able to choose three families. One particular family gave me a pair of earrings and a matching necklace a few years ago that has a little bee on it.

“It came with a quote: ‘Find your hive and love them hard’.

“And you guys are absolutely my hive. I love coming home and feeling the love from you guys and feeling like I belong somewhere.”

Mooney gives a speech after being awarded the Belinda Clark medal. Picture: Getty Images

Mooney has been estranged from her own parents for a number of years, and so that fundamental sense of belonging is not something she necessarily felt from her own family.

However, she does share a tight-knit bond with her younger sister, Gabrielle – who she also fought back tears to thank in her Belinda Clark speech.

“I think when I was younger, I probably didn’t think I needed that kind of support, or those kinds of relationships that are unconditional so to speak,” Mooney told this masthead.

“It’s been documented a little bit the challenges I’ve had with my family. But I’m lucky enough to have a sister who lives in Inverell (near the Queensland border) and who hates cricket, but will follow every game I play and will wake up at all hours.

“So to have a sister who has supported me and we’ve supported each other through the last few years has been very important for my career.

“Having those other people as well (her ‘hive’ as she calls it, includes former Brisbane Heat captain Kirby Short among others) has made the difference. Having that has probably meant that I’ve been able to be successful and keep perspective as an international athlete.”

Mooney has established herself as one of the best batters in Australian history. Picture: Getty Images

Mooney wants to make the distinction that ‘her people’ haven’t taken on a role as parental figures, but just that they keep her grounded and she considers them family.

“They give me advice when I need it and an uppercut when I need it. Or a shoulder to cry on if I need it. I consider myself very lucky to have those people in my life for sure,” she said.

“They may not look at it like that but I do.”

Much like David Warner’s journey from housing commission block to the top of Test cricket, Mooney also possesses that rare inner-steel and determination to prove people wrong.

At one point when she was starting out as a top level cricketer, she remembers having $10 in her bank account.

Earlier this year she was signed by the Gujarat Giants for $350,000 in the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction, following up by being crowned player of the tournament in Australia’s T20 World Cup triumph.

Mooney made a splash for the Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League this year. Picture: AFP

Mooney says a clear turning point in her career came six years ago, when aged 23, then Australian coach Matthew Mott banned her from taking up a stint in English county cricket because she was unfit.

Mott is under siege now as England men’s coach in the midst of a World Cup disaster, but Mooney said her coach and cherished mentor knew exactly what rein to pull.

“I do remember Motty saying, ‘You could be one of the best batters in the world if you want to be,’” Mooney said.

“It was hard to hear at the time, he certainly helped push me to where I am today in terms of how I go about my cricket and a little bit of influence off the field as well.

“To hear someone like him say he thought I had that much potential made me want to do that.

“It was certainly a turning point.”

Beth Mooney credits coach Matthew Mott for giving her the rocket she needed to be her best. Picture: AAP

Mott also gave Mooney another chance to prove her bloody-mindedness – although this time it wasn’t intentional.

A rogue throw-down with the wanger in the nets reared up and smashed Mooney in the jaw in January last year, causing it to break in two places.

Mooney was left crouching in a pool of her own blood, feeling for her teeth, and convinced her hopes of going to the 2022 ODI World Cup, due to start in a month’s time, were over.

Ten days later, Mooney was facing up against England in an Ashes Test match.

“I thought I’d lost teeth to start off with. I don’t know how I got one finger in my mouth to check but I managed to open my jaw enough to stick my fingers in right after I got hit, then I just remember there was blood everywhere,” she said.

“Some of the girls talk about how there was a pool of blood in the back of the net where I was and no one faced Motty after that.

Beth Mooney's remarkable toughness to battle on after breaking her jaw.

“Initially I thought I was done for. Not going to the World Cup, not playing the Ashes. But thankfully Pip (Australian doctor, Pip Inge) could read the room and she calmed me down pretty quick and said, ‘You don’t need your face to play cricket’.”

Mooney said the pain was “the most unbearable I’ve ever experienced”, yet she had no hesitation about returning to the pitch barely a week later with three plates in her jaw.

However, the left-hand run-machine admits the incident did leave psychological scars which took months to fade.

“Sometimes I think I’m a bit silly for doing it because I don’t think I really felt the psychological impact until a couple of weeks after – because I’d been so focused on playing that Test match,” Mooney said.

“For a few months after in the nets I just felt really vulnerable and I probably didn’t psychologically deal with it as well as I could have. While I still got out there on the park and played and performed pretty well, it was usually in the nets I felt a bit unsafe I guess.”

Mooney was back at training in the days after suffering the shocking broken jaw. Picture: Getty Images

But Mooney isn’t afraid to put herself outside her comfort zone.

During the off-season this year she spent a week with the Queensland Police dog squad with a view to considering a career in the force once her days opening the batting for Australia are done.

It wasn’t for the faint hearted.

Mooney volunteered to act as a perpetrator in a training drill, and wore a bite guard on her arm to be attacked by a police dog.

“Because you’re wearing the sleeve it’s not too bad, but you can notice the pressure a little bit,” Mooney said.

“They didn’t get me in the full body suit, but apparently you can get bruises from that so I opted out of that.

“The guys that were looking after me in the dog squad are very well trained, very professional, so that allowed me to be comfortable saying yes or saying no to things.

“I was worried going into it I might not like seeing the dogs being forced to do that kind of stuff, but they just love it. It’s a game to them. Even when they’re in there training, it’s all safe and they looked after me.

“I didn’t get any injuries out of it so to see the animals in full flight doing what they love was really cool.”

Not that Mooney is thinking about life after cricket any time soon.

The recent announcement that cricket will be making a grand return to the Olympics in Los Angeles, 2028 has Mooney dreaming of a fairytale.

“Obviously the Olympics is the big ticket item in world sport. As a fan of the Olympics, you turn it on for two or three weeks and it’s amazing. It’s an amazing spectacle,” Mooney – who would be 34 by LA – said.

“I certainly don’t want to get too far ahead of myself but it could be a really cool place to end up at.

“Hopefully I’m still around.”

Based on Mooney’s track record for resilience, determination and excellence … you wouldn’t write her off for a home Olympics in Brisbane either.

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Originally published as Insight: How Australia’s toughest cricketer Beth Mooney played through pain of broken jaw