Australia's Beth Mooney fractures jaw ahead of Ashes

The Australian batter was struck by a 'rogue' delivery in the nets during a training session, putting involvement in both the Ashes and Women's Cricket World Cup in doubt. Ellyse Perry will miss a warm-up match due to a Covid scare

Australia have been dealt a blow ahead of the Ashes after Beth Mooney sustained a fractured jaw in training.

The top-order batter was facing throwdowns in the nets from coach Matthew Mott on Monday (January 17) evening when she was struck by a 'rogue delivery' on the right side of her chin.

Scans later confirmed a fracture and Mooney has since undergone surgery.

No time frame has been given for her recovery but while the injury has thrown not only her involvement in the Ashes but also the Women’s Cricket World Cup in March into doubt, both Mott and Australia’s doctors are confident of a prompt return for the 28-year-old.

The multi-format Ashes series is scheduled to begin on January 20, with a T20I in Adelaide, and conclude on February 8 at Melbourne’s Junction Oval. The ODI World Cup is due to take place in New Zealand between March 4 and April 3.

"Beth was batting incredibly well and as can happen, just a rogue ball came up and put her in a tough position and she tried to get out of the way, but copped it on the side of the chin," said Mott.

^{Mooney (right) was the leading run-scorer in the WBBL07 [Paul Kane/Getty Images]}

"The good news is our doctors are pretty positive that the way that jaw surgeries are working these days, the comeback time is a bit shorter.

"She's in good spirits. Hopefully she gets that through that surgery well and we can find out exactly when she can re-enter the group. We'll have to be smart about that and what it looks like for her and listen to the surgeons.

"But she's an incredibly tough character. The ball hit her quite hard yesterday and her reaction was very stoic and all she asked for was a bit of water."

Mooney’s likely absence is setback for Australia, with the batter a key top-order player in all three formats. Since making her international debut in 2016, she has made 108 appearances for Australia, scoring 118 Test runs, 1,347 ODI runs and 1,648 T20I runs.

However, it is in the three T20Is which kickstart the Ashes where she will be missed the most.

Mooney is the all-time leading run-scorer in the Women’s Big Bash, scoring 3,674 runs at an average of 47.10. She’s yet to score fewer than 400 runs in a season in the competition and has passed 500 runs in each of the past three years, winning the Golden Bat award in 2020 and 2021.

^{Ellyse Perry (right) will miss Australia's warm-up match against Australia A following a Covid scare [Paul Kane/Getty Images]}

Middle-order batter Rachael Haynes is the most likely candidate to replace Mooney at the top of the order. Elyse Villani and uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Georgia Redmayne, who is set to captain Australia A, are also potential partners for Aylssa Healy.

In other news, Ellyse Perry will miss Australia’s warm-up match against Australia A on January 18 due to a Covid scare while Australia A duo Katie Mack and Molly Strano have both returned positive tests.

Perry is expected to travel to Adelaide and be available for the T20 series while Courtney Webb has been called up as cover for Australia A’s three-match T20 series against England A (January 20-23). 

Mack and Strano are hopeful of returning for the 50-over fixtures in Canberra, which are scheduled to take place on January 28, January 30 and February 2.