After spending four T20 World Cups terrorizing bowling attacks alongside Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney is backing her new partner in crime to continue the tradition.
Georgia Voll will head into her first T20 World Cup as the world’s highest-ranked T20I batter, having beaten second-ranked Mooney to claim the spot in April, just 12 matches into her career in the shortest format.
The 22-year-old Queenslander joined Mooney at the top of the order on a temporary basis in early 2025 in place of an injured Healy, with the role made permanent when the former Australia captain announced her retirement in January.
From those dozen appearances, Voll has an average of 39.5 in the format with a strike rate of 156.43, and those numbers are enough to see her rise from uncapped international to the world’s top-ranked T20 batsman faster than any other player in almost two decades.
“This is her first T20 World Cup, she has left a marker for other teams with the way she has been playing cricket over the last 12 to 18 months, so I am very excited to see her take her chance at the top of the order,” Mooney said of Voll in Cardiff on Saturday.
“He’s played a lot of cricket before making his debut for Australia… he played for Queensland and Brisbane at quite a young age, so I think that’s given him a lot of confidence coming into international cricket, and he’s got a real clarity about his game and also his role.
“He’s a real talent, he hits the ball well and hard, he picks up the length really well, so he’ll be a real threat for us, no doubt.”
Australia’s T20 World Cup victories in 2018 and 2020 were led by the success of Mooney and Healy, who scored more runs than any other opening partnership in both tournaments, while they were only surpassed by South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits as the Australians clinched the third title in 2023.
Overall, Mooney and Healy averaged 50.66 together in four T20 World Cups as an opening pair, producing three century stands and four fifty-run partnerships in 19 matches.
None of them were more famous than his 115-run stand in the 2020 World Cup final in front of 86,174 fans at the MCG.
“For me personally, dating someone different at a T20 World Cup is going to be a bit strange, but luckily ‘Volly’ and I have a pretty good relationship too,” Mooney said.
“Hopefully we can replicate some of the great things that ‘Midge’ (Healy) and I did at the top of the order in the T20 World Cups and create our own history there… opening the batting for Australia in big games and having a lot of fun doing it.
“We have a pretty good relationship, like the one I had with Midge.
“It’s a bit bittersweet, and Midge had been part of the furniture of Australian cricket for a long time, (but) it’s really exciting to see the direction this team is going and hopefully we can come home with a T20 World Cup trophy.”
Meanwhile, Mooney has made a promising start to his UK campaign, hitting 40, 37no and 25 in the three warm-up matches against South Africa in Arundel last week.
The 32-year-old clearly stood out with the bat in two full matches, which were split 1-1 with the second being dismissed after eight overs.
“For me it’s just about transitioning from the nets to the game and getting back into the competition a little bit more,” Mooney said.
“There are many things you can learn on the networks.
“It’s nice to be back in the thick of it and problem-solving as the games went on and implementing some of the things I’ve been working on in training.
“South Africa are a tough opponent and have come a long way in recent years in international cricket, so we know the first game will be really important for us.”
The Australian team arrived in Cardiff on Friday but was restricted to indoor training at Sophia Gardens on Saturday due to heavy rain that hit the Welsh capital.
They will have a second on-field nets session on Sunday, minus captain Sophie Molineux, who will be in London for the tournament’s ‘Captain’s Day’ extravaganza which will see Waterloo Bridge closed to traffic for a World Cup festival, ahead of Monday’s warm-up match against England.
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
Australia team: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham. Travel reservation: Tahlia Wilson
ICC World Cup warm-up matches
June 9: v England, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, 12am AEST
June 11: v West Indies, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, 12am AEST
Australia Group 1 Schedule
June 13: v South Africa, Old Trafford, Manchester, 11:30pm AEST
June 17: v Bangladesh, Headingley, Leeds, 7:30pm AEST
June 20: v Netherlands, Rose Bowl, Hampshire, 7:30pm AEST
June 24: v Pakistan, Headingley, Leeds, 3:30am AEST
June 28: v India, Lord’s, London, 11:30pm AEST
Semifinal 1: The Oval, London, June 30, 11:30 p.m. AEST
Semifinal 2: The Oval, London, July 2 (3:30am July 3 AEST)
End: Lord’s, London, 5 July, 11:30pm AEST
Click here to see the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon. main video
