Beth Mooney is not treating her 100th ODI as a destination. As Australia prepares to complete a series sweep against Bangladesh in the third and final one-day international at Allan Border Field on Wednesday, October 14, the 32-year-old wicketkeeper-batter is already looking towards the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2029, and perhaps a home Olympic Games in Brisbane in 2032.
For a player whose career has been defined by consistency, adaptability and an understated hunger for silverware, the milestone arrives less as a farewell marker and more as a checkpoint. Mooney has accumulated 3,288 ODI runs at an average of 49.81, with six centuries, placing her seventh on Australia’s all-time list in the format. Yet the numbers she cares about most are still ahead of her.
Australia’s semi-final exit at the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India remains a source of unfinished business. The defeat denied the world’s most successful women’s cricket team a chance to defend the 50-over crown they reclaimed in 2022, after England had lifted the trophy in 2017.
“I think there was a lot of bitter disappointment from that World Cup loss in India 12 months ago now, and looking ahead we’ve obviously come off a T20 World Cup win, we’ve got a Champions Trophy, there are a lot of ICC events and Ashes series and big series coming up,” Mooney said, as quoted by AAP.
That disappointment has sharpened rather than dulled her ambition. Mooney was central to Australia’s record seventh Women’s T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year, scoring 238 runs in seven innings, including an unbeaten 64 from 49 deliveries in the final against England. But the 50-over World Cup remains the prize she wants back.
“But the 50-over one is what you want to win as well, so I guess the motivation for me now is to play well enough in the next few years to put my hand up for selection in that 2029 World Cup but also contribute positively into a format of the game that is constantly changing and evolving,” she said.
Mooney’s longevity is built on more than personal milestones. She has become one of Australian cricket’s most valuable bridge figures, experienced enough to anchor a chase, flexible enough to bat wherever the team requires, and increasingly invested in nurturing the next generation. That role was evident in the second ODI against Bangladesh, where young openers Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield shared a 162-run stand in Australia’s nine-wicket victory. For Mooney, their fearless approach reflects where women’s ODI cricket is heading.
“I guess that’s what excited me the most is the fact that the 50-over game is becoming a lot more modern, and we’re seeing Phoebe and Georgia really take the game on,” she said. “Who knows how many runs we might be able to score in a 50-over game one day? That’s sort of driving me at the moment.”
In the first ODI, Mooney made 13 from 12 balls at No. 4 as Australia chased down 167 with seven wickets in hand. Her two boundaries were brief, but her presence in a successful chase underlined the calm authority she brings to Australia’s middle order. The second ODI then demonstrated the attacking depth around her, with Voll and Litchfield setting the tone at the top.
The Olympics add another compelling layer to Mooney’s future. Cricket’s inclusion at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, coupled with the possibility of Brisbane hosting in 2032, could give the Queenslander a rare chance to pursue global glory on home soil. By then, she would be 38—an age that once might have signalled the end, but which now feels increasingly plausible for elite athletes with the right support and motivation. “Certainly the Olympics is definitely an enticing one for players to hang around a bit longer,” Mooney said. “But I think the exciting part is there’s always something on the calendar, so it’d be pretty hard to retire at this point.”
She is realistic about the distance between now and 2032. “Hopefully I’m still around, but that’s a long way away,” she added. “There’s a lot of cricket to be played between now and then, a lot of tournaments to play with this Australian team and in franchise cricket, so my main focus is to contribute as much as I can to those and also help the younger players along the way as well.”
After the Bangladesh series, Australia face New Zealand in a three-match home T20I series, before turning their attention to the maiden ICC Women’s Champions Trophy, hosted by India from February 14 to 28, 2027. For Mooney, each event is another step in a longer pursuit: restoring Australia’s ODI supremacy, shaping the next era of batters, and keeping alive the possibility of an Olympic moment in Brisbane.
(Quotes sourced from AAP)
I am Yash Tailor, and I believe work should be driven by passion. Therefore, after completing my Engineering, I chose to work in the Cricket industry, my passion. My goal is to reach a stage where I truly enjoy what I do and give my best to every task with energy and purpose.