Beth Mooney braces for busy cricket summer

After the Ashes in July, Australia women leave for a West Indies tour. They will then play two home series' and domestic 50-over and Twenty20 competitions before the ICC Women's T20 World Cup begins in February next year, making it a long and busy next few months.

The schedule sounds challenging, but Mooney is sure that the players will remain motivated through the course of it, particularly for the finishing act of the Women's T20 World Cup at home next year.

"By the end of last season we were pretty cooked," Mooney said. "So it was about making sure we got the most out of that six weeks off, with the knowledge that this year would be even busier.

"I think the next 12 months we're away somewhere between 150 and 200 days ... [but] when that carrot is dangling at the end of the year people will be pretty up and about for it."

Australia women had retained the Ashes at home in 2017 in a drawn series, which was also the last time they played a Test match. The Ashes series for women is a multi-format tournament that begins with three one-day internationals starting from 2 July. The squad for Ashes will be named at the end of the three-week training camp.

Mooney rued the lack of more red-ball cricket for the women but understands that the system is still growing and is certain that things will improve in the coming years.

"It's a pretty special thing to be able to do. The fact we don't do it as often as we'd like means a bit more to us," said the 25-year-old. "I think once more countries get on board we might see more of the multi-format series across the nations. Hopefully that means the Ashes series for the women will be three Tests instead of just one.

"But at the moment, in terms of selling the game, I think the multi-format is what's working ... hopefully in maybe five years it'll be a full-blown Test series," she added.