Beth Mooney, the legendary wicketkeeper-batter of Australia, became the first woman from her country to score a century in all three formats after smashing her maiden ton in the Women’s Ashes on Saturday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Mooney scored a century in the second innings of this one-off Test, the last match of the long series. After restricting England to a timid score of 170, Mooney came to bat at number five and put up a score of 106 off just 173 balls. Her innings included seven fours and added a brilliant 154-run partnership with Annabel Sutherland, taking them to 440 before Australia won by an innings and 122 runs.
“The hat trick of centuries across all three formats has been achieved on the grandest of stages in the grandest of competitions. Beth Mooney, you live and breathe batting elitism,” said Mel Jones on Fox Cricket.
“She has been wanting this for such a long time … She is a traditionalist; she loves Test cricket-and that will mean the world to her,” Kirby Short, her fellow commentator, added.
This was a typical Mooney innings with her usual adaptability. The 31-year-old scored almost all of her runs square of the wicket, hitting 55 singles and 10 doubles. This was her sixth international century.
Mooney thus joins a small and distinguished group of women who have scored international centuries in all three formats: England’s Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont, and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt. She is now the fourth Australian to be acknowledged as an all-format international hundred-getter, along with Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell and David Warner.
Mooney’s eight Test appearances have produced 559 runs across 13 innings at a mighty fine average of 43.00, accompanied by four additional fifties. In 82 ODIs, the senior batter has gayged a total of 2,553 runs, averaging 47.27 with a strike rate of over 85, three centuries, and 18 half-centuries. In 109 T20Is, she made a total of 3,215 runs at 41.21 with a strike rate of more than 124, which includes two centuries and a staggering 25 half-centuries.
Through this massive win, Australia white washed their historical engenders for a disappointing 16-0 points, having come previously from winning three ODIs and three T20Is.
“I am really proud of the girls; there has been a great contribution from the whole squad,” said Sutherland, who made her name on the MCG honors board, just like Mooney. “16-0—how good. It is really special to be here, especially to play a Test match at the MCG, a ground where I spent a lot of my childhood. To be able to contribute to the team’s win is pretty cool.”
