Australia's Beth Mooney suffers fractured jaw during training, ruled out of Ashes

The Australian women team's preparation were dealt a heavy blow on Monday evening (January 17) as star batter Beth Mooney was struck on her jaw in the nets. Mooney has been ruled out of the Ashes and will now require surgery. The news was confirmed by Cricket Australia (CA). This could also spell the end of her aspirations of winning the Women's ODI World Cup, which starts in the first week of March.

"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," Australia's women team coach Matthew Mott said on Tuesday morning.

"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,” Mott said after accessing the situation.

The incident took place on Monday evening when Mooney was practicing in the nets at the Karen Rolton Oval. The 28-year-old was struck with the throwdown ball from coach Mott. She immediately removed her helmet and walked out of the nets. The medical team was seen inspecting her, while ice cubs were used to slow the extent of pain.

It was the Queenslander's right jaw that was injured. After swelling and initial scans, it was confirmed that Mooney will have surgery on her jaw. A return date will be confirmed after the surgery.

The 28-year-old has been a sensation for the last few years. Currently, she is the no. 1 ranked T20I batter and is the highest scorer in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) for Perth Scorchers. She scored an astounding 101 unbeaten against Melbourne Renegades in the second match of the WBBL season.