Mooney on the move as WA sign Aussie gun

Australia superstar Beth Mooney's exit from Queensland is complete, with the world's top-ranked T20 batter replicating her Weber WBBL departure and shifting her state allegiance west.

The 28-year-old triple World Cup champion has left the Queensland Fire and signed with Western Australia for the 2022-23 season, two years after switching her Big Bash home from the Brisbane Heat to the Perth Scorchers.

Off-spinner Lilly Mills, who also switched from the Heat to the Scorchers last season and played in their title-winning Big Bash side, has joined Mooney in leaving the Fire to join WA.

The Fire have also lost fast bowler Holly Ferling to the ACT and Meagan Dixon (delisted) but have gained Canberra pace bowler Nicola Hancock along with leg-spinner Grace Parsons and pace bowler Lucy Hamilton.

Spin-bowling allrounder Charis Bekker and batter Poppy Stockwell have also joined WA, while Piepa Cleary has returned after a season away.

Mooney didn't play with the Fire at all last season due to international commitments, of which she played an integral part in helping Australia claim multi-format series wins against India and England in the Ashes, along with a seventh World Cup crown in April.

The left-handed top-order batter, who was today named in Australia's T20 squad for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July-August, has been in exceptional touch of late, crunching 330 runs at 110 during the World Cup, including 62 off 47 balls in the final as part of a 156-run second-wicket stand with Alyssa Healy.

Mooney debuted for the Fire as 16-year-old in January 2010, going on to represent the state in 65 Women's National Cricket League matches, scoring 1964 runs at 33 with a highest score of 163.

She played four matches during the 2020-21 season but missed the final due to Australia's tour of New Zealand as Queensland won their first WNCL title, beating Victoria by 112 runs at the Junction Oval.

"Beth made her debut with the Fire in 2010 and along with her Queensland and WBBL Heat teammates, has played a significant role in growing the game for women and girls in Queensland," Queensland Cricket CEO Terry Svenson said in a statement.

"Equally, we thank Lilly and Meagan for their commitment to cricket in the State and wish them the best in the future."

Mooney helped the Heat to back-to-back WBBL titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20, with player of the match innings in both deciders, before moving to the Scorchers in 2020-21 where she also featured in their first championship last year.

The signing coup is a huge boost for the Western Australian women's squad, with the WNCL the only title WA Cricket didn't win last season; the men's team broke a 23-year Marsh Sheffield Shield drought to go with their Marsh Cup win, while the Scorchers won both the KFC BBL and WBBL titles.

Mooney will join leg-spinner Alana King as the only Cricket Australia centrally contracted players in the WA squad for next season.

At the time of her move from the Heat, Mooney said one of the attractions to the Scorchers was the opportunity to work closely with new Australia interim head coach, Shelley Nitschke, who will continue to coach the Perth club in WBBL|08 this year before the national side's next engagement in January 2023.

Even earlier this year, in an interview with cricket.com.au, Mooney was pondering a move interstate if it meant her game could evolve.

"This question has been on my mind a lot in the last 6-12 months, just with how good I think the Perth organisation is," she said ahead of the World Cup.

2022-23 Queensland Fire Squad

Jess Jonassen, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Laura Harris, Mikayla Hinkley, Ellie Johnston, Ruth Johnston, Charli Knott, Caitlin Mair, Grace Parsons, Georgia Prestwidge, Georgia Redmayne, Courtney Sippel, Georgia Voll

2022-23 Western Australia Women’s Squad

Charis Bekker, Zoe Britcliffe, Mathilda Carmichael, Piepa Cleary, Sheldyn Cooper, Maddy Darke, Ashley Day, Amy Edgar, Lisa Griffith, Alana King, Lilly Mills, Beth Mooney, Taneale Peschel, Chloe Piparo, Poppy Stockwell, Georgia Wyllie