Beth Mooney loves living life on the edge, unburdened by the fear of consequences. That fearless mentality is the most devastating asset to the Manuka magician's arsenal.
Mooney will return to the scene of the most incredible knock of her career in Australia's Twenty20 international clash with New Zealand at Manuka Oval on Friday night. And she wants to do it all again.
Beth Mooney is dreaming of a repeat.
"Although if the floodlights are still as bright as they were last time, I’m not sure that’s going to be good for us," Mooney laughed.
It has been nearly a year since Mooney peeled off a record-shattering century that should have gifted Australia an outright Ashes victory.
But it wasn't even the best innings of the night after England’s Dani Wyatt orchestrated a finish that left Mooney saying “I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry”.
England opener Wyatt blasted a remarkable 56-ball ton to snatch a win for England – but the Australians didn't help themselves with four dropped catches under Manuka Oval's diamonds in the sky.
Mooney still can't put her finger on why everything went right on the night of November 21, 2017 – well, from a personal perspective at least.
"You like to live life on the edge as a batter and take the game on," Mooney said.
"It’s nice to be able to do that and get away with it. Even if it doesn’t come off all the time, if you’ve got the confidence to do that and you’re not afraid of the consequences then it comes off like that, but sometimes it doesn’t always happen like that."
"[Manuka Oval is] a good place to bat and a good place to play as well. The crowds have been excellent every time we have played there and they have really got behind us.
"Every ground we play is really special but the support we get from Canberra is next level, so I think everyone is keen to get back there again."
Mooney only made six in Saturday's series-opening six-wicket win against New Zealand at North Sydney Oval and will be looking for more in Monday's second game at Brisbane, before the series concludes in Canberra on Friday.
"New Zealand are a really quality side and they’ve got some world-class players in the line up, so it's really important to measure ourselves against a top side like that leading into the World Twenty20," Mooney said.
Meg Lanning is back in green and gold.
"The group we have now is placed really well. We’ve kept a similar squad over the past 12 to 18 months and there are a couple of new young faces amongst it as well to liven the group up and keep us on our toes.
"I think it’s a really exciting group we’ve got lined up."
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