Bristol [UK], July 11 : Australian wicketkeeper-batter Beth Mooney said that she will be happy to bat wherever her team demands, ahead of the first ODI against England in the multi-format Ashes series on Wednesday.
Australia and England will play a three-match ODI series, starting from Bristol on Wednesday. Australia is 6-4 ahead in the Ashes, but England fought back well in T20I series by winning it 2-1. By doing so, they earned four crucial points (two per game). They need to win all the ODIs to win the Ashes. Australia had a great start after getting four points on winning the one-off Test and getting two points by winning the first T20I.
Mooney could fill the self-described role of "fixer-upper" for her side during the upcoming ODI series as Australia is still thinking over their best opening partner.
Mooney opened besides a young Phoebe Litchfield during the Pakistan ODI series in January. But Australia was without their regular opener Alyssa Healy, who was recovering from a calf injury.
These ODIs were Aussies first since the retirement of their former opener Rachael Haynes.
Mooney always seemed the heir apparent for the left-hander at the top order, but the 29-year-old has been a solid middle-order batter over the years (batting between three and five in 21 ODI innings since September 2019, she has piled on 745 runs at 62.08) and could return there, leaving the 20-year-old Litchfield to continue her role as an opener.
Or else, Mooney could stay at the top, where she averages almost 48 and Litchfield or someone like Heather Graham and Grace Harris could come to boost the middle order. Litchfield had a dream introduction to ODIs, scoring 78* and 67* against Pakistan.
"I have always said I am happy to bat wherever. I think I am a bit of a fixer-upper in this team," she said.
"I fill the gaps in the field when bowlers are bowling and I play a lot of different roles with the bat, so whatever suits the team is where I'm happy to go. We will have some discussions over the next couple of days about that and what our best XI in that format is too," she added.
Mooney said that the squad has some quality players and the likes of Heather Graham and Alana King are warming the bench despite their abilities.
"We have got some quality players in that squad of 15, we have had Heather Graham sitting on the sidelines who I rate very highly, and Alana King did not play in the T20 series so we certainly have the depth in our squad to really nail those three ODIs," she said.
The upcoming matches in Bristol, Southampton and Taunton will be Aussies' first without their regular skipper Meg Lanning since the 2017 Ashes at home, with her missing out due to medical reasons. Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath will shuffle up the order to help filling the hole left by Lanning.
Speaking to the reports following the loss in the third T20I at Lord's, coach Shelley Nitschke said that Australia will consider changing the team for ODIs after fielding the same side for all three T20Is.
Options present before the team are Litchfield, Graham, Kim Garth and Alana.
"We have got 14 players with us at the moment so we will have a look at what our best line-up is for the ODI format. But we will just take a little bit of time to assess that and talk about the conditions down in Bristol as well," said the coach.
England on the other hand named their 15-player squad on Monday. Tammy Beaumont, who hit a double ton in a one-off Test at Nottingham, returns to the side after missing T20Is. Pacer Lauren Filer could also get her first ODI cap in Bristol, after her Test debut at Nottingham.
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