Mooney undergoes jaw surgery ahead of Ashes

Australian batter Beth Mooney had to undergo a jaw surgery after being struck on the face while facing throwdowns but head coach Matthew Mott is optimistic that the 28-year-old could still feature in the forthcoming Ashes and the ODI World Cup. The multi-format Ashes starts on January 20 with the first T20I in Adelaide, while the World Cup will be played in 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. 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,” said Mott.

"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."

Mooney is the top-ranked T20I batter and was also the top run-getter in the Women's Big Bash League. However, Mott believes her absence will give other players an opportunity to shine. 

"This is just the golden opportunity for a few players to put their hand up, there's certainly no reason why it can't come from outside the (main) squad. (The selectors) will certainly sit down today and just work out what is the best for this group."