February 2010 - Queensland Cricket

Talented Hervey Bay teenagerBeth Mooney made anaccomplished debut for theKonica Minolta QueenslandFire in their final game ofWNCL season last month.The 16-year-old flew toBrisbane to replace JodieFields after the Fire skippertore her hamstring badly inthe Twenty20 clash betweenthe two States.After Melissa Bulow haddeputised with the gloves inthe first game of the double-header,Mooney wasgiven a taste of the elitelevel for the first time on18 January at Allan BorderField.“I was more nervous thanexcited, which was probablya good thing. You don’tget a big opportunity to debutfor your State at thetop level at this stage,”Mooney said.She missed the call fromchairman of selectors PaulPink the preceding day withthe big news and had toring back.“He said you’ll be playingtomorrow and I was soKONICA MINOLTA QUEENSLAND FIRE PROFILEshocked andsurprised thatit took awhile to gothrough mymind,” shesaid.On schoolholidays,Mooney was not concernedabout anyrust creeping into hergame as she hadonly recently returnedfrom the nationalunder 17championships,where she was one ofQueensland’s bestperformers andearned a spot in theAustralian U18 Developmentsquadalongside fellowQueenslanders JessJonassen, HayleyPattison and RebeccaHollindale.Mooney was morethan happy to jumpstraight into actionbehind the stumpswhen WA won thetoss and elected tobat.She did an outstanding job,BETH GRASPS FIRSTOPPORTUNITY WITHBOTH GLOVES(Above) A proud and satisfied Beth Mooneyafter her WNCL debut for the Fire.(Right): At the Australian U17 Carnival.leaping in the air with excitementand being mobbedbyteammatesaftertaking asmartcatch todismissWAopenerLauren Ebsarywith the Furyscore on 62.While no moreedges came herway, Mooney didnot concede abye in the WA inningsof 9-268 instifling heat.“The standardwas pretty high.It was a big step19up coming off the under17s, although playing CACup (Second XI) helped mea lot,” Mooney said.She felt most welcome byher Fire teammates.“They’re lovely girls andwere very supportive andencouraging,” she said.“Their belief in everyone isjust amazing.”That belief did not waver,despite a heavy 130-runloss that saw the Fire slipfrom third to fifth place inthe final standings.Mooney scored nine off 19balls batting at No.10 beforeedging a catch behind.“I didn’t move my feet,”she grimaced. “It’s all alearning experience.”Fire coach Joanne Broadbentwas impressed withthe youngster’s debut.“Beth did not look out ofplace, even in her littlecameo innings at theend,” Broadbent said.“She looked like someonewho will play a lot forQueensland with herkeeping and batting.”