Beth Mooney suffers fractured jaw ahead of Ashes and ODI World Cup

Australian batter Beth Mooney suffered a fractured jaw during training ahead of the Ashes on Monday and will have to undergo surgery. One of the short deliveries hit her while she was getting throwdowns from head coach Matthew Mott. Australia is scheduled to play three T20Is from January 20 followed by a Test match and three ODIs against England.

Mooney is likely to miss these upcoming games and the degree of her injury might indicate whether she would be able to recover before the ODI World Cup next month. Australia is going to start their campaign in the tournament against England on March 5 in Hamilton.

Mooney was predicted to play a key role in all three formats against England. Mott gave the detail regarding her injury. The former Australian first-class cricketer mentioned that Mooney tried to get away from the short delivery and it hit her on the side of the chin. Mott further mentioned that the team management will have a discussion with the surgeons and understand the timeline of her return.

“Unfortunately I played a pivotal role,” Mott said as quoted by Cricinfo. “Throwing balls to Beth, she was batting incredibly well, and as can happen just a rogue ball came up and put her in a pretty tough position. She tried to get out of the way and unfortunately copped it on the side of the chin.

“The good news is that our doctors are pretty positive that the way jaw surgeries are working these days the comeback time is a bit shorter. We are looking for her to play, Beth certainly wants to play, but we’ll have to be smart and listen to the surgeons. She’s an incredibly tough character. The ball hit her quite hard and her reaction was very stoic,” he added.

Australia's Ashes and ODI World Cup preparations have taken a huge hit with Beth Mooney struck during training https://t.co/fPLSSOGnnc

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 18, 2022

Australia will have to alter its batting order in the absence of Beth Mooney

Mooney opens the batting for Australia in the T20Is along with Alyssa Healy. Hence, the team might need to make a few adjustments to the playing order. Australia has the option to promote Rachael Haynes to the top of the order. But, she has played a vital role in the middle-order, and hence, this might not sound like a practical idea. The practice matches might give the management an idea about the right choice for opening the batting.