Australia’s new full-time wicketkeeper hopes a chance will arise for her predecessor to take the gloves in her final match
Beth Mooney says she is relishing the challenge of keeping wicket full time for Australia but acknowledges she will need to carefully manage her increased workload in her new role.
Mooney will take the gloves for this week’s day-night Test against India at the WACA Ground, a role she also performed at the MCG last summer during the women’s Ashes.
On that occasion, it was to relieve Healy who was playing through a foot injury, and Mooney later admitted she had been daunted in the lead-up to the match.
This time, with a Test under her belt and greater confidence borne of her increased opportunities with the gloves in the Australian team, the 32-year-old is looking forward to the challenge at her adopted home ground.
Australia have been blessed across the last decade to have their back-up wicketkeeper entrenched in their best XI as one of the world’s leading batters.
The post-Healy era will throw up fresh questions for selectors, who will need to consider coverage when choosing future squads.
For Mooney’s part, she is conscious of making the small adjustments needed to how she trains and recovers to ensure she remains on the park.
“It’s been a lot of fun, I’ve really enjoyed it, and the consistency of doing it a little bit more frequently,” Mooney said at Perth airport on Monday.
“(During) the last little bit I’ve done it probably more than I would have (expected), just through ‘Midge’s’ injuries and things like that.
“But moving forward, (I’m) really excited to take on that (full-time) role, and I’ll probably have to manage my body a little differently to what I (did when) running around the field.”
The decision to hand Mooney the gloves for the entire multi-format series has been a topic of debate, given Healy’s position as first-choice ‘keeper since 2014.
Speaking to Channel Seven during the first ODI in Brisbane last week, selector Shawn Flegler said allowing Mooney consistency behind the stumps was part of the decision, as well as rewarding her strong recent form with the gloves.
“(It was) extremely tough; Midge has had an unbelievable career and we’re trying to be really respectful of that but also look at what the team requires in the medium-to-long term as well,” he said.
“I think ‘Moons’ in her own right has been keeping very well for the past 12-to-18 months and the opportunity for her to keep in the T20s in particular and then continue that through the rest of the series was too good an opportunity, we thought.”
However, Mooney may yet hand back the gloves at some point during Healy’s final international match.
“Midge hasn’t done a whole lot of keeping since Big Bash, so it’s looking like I’ll probably take the gloves, but maybe I’ll throw them to her at the back end of the last session and let her finish like that,” she said.
Australia touched down in Perth on Monday and will have a day’s break from training before resuming their Test preparations on Wednesday evening.
Limited time to adjust to the pink ball and the longer format is part and parcel of a multi-format series, and Mooney said Australia were well-equipped to handle the quick transition.
“We’re used to this tight schedule, we’ve done it in the past few multi-format series,” she said.
“(Going from) 50-over (cricket) into a Test match is pretty good, it’s just getting your head around the fact that as a batter, you’ve got so much time, and as a bowler, you’ve got plenty of time to set a batter up as well.
“So from my point of view, it’s about making sure my process is exactly the same, and just getting into the nets and having a look at that pink ball and seeing how it behaves when it’s old, when it’s new, and things like that.
“I’m looking forward to the pace and bounce of the WACA, I think that’ll be a lot of fun and a really good challenge.
“I think the conditions at the WACA will suit us really nicely. We’ve got the pace and bounce of Darcie Brown, maybe a debutant in Lucy Hamilton as well, and a couple of new faces too.”
NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series
Australia lead the multi-format series 8-4
February 15: First T20: India won by 21 runs (DLS)
February 19: Second T20: Australia won by 19 runs
February 21: Third T20: India won by 17 runs
February 24: First ODI: Australia won by six wickets
February 27: Second ODI: Australia won by five wickets
March 1: Third ODI: Australia won by 185 runs
Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Rachel Trenaman, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare
March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)
