Brown out to upset reigning champions

After fighting her way back into the Melbourne Renegades’ best XI this Rebel WBBL season, Maitlan Brown now hopes to help her club cause a major semi-final upset this weekend.

The Renegades became the first Melbourne club to qualify for WBBL finals after finishing the regular season in fourth position on the ladder, but they have one huge obstacle standing between them and the final: two-time reigning champions and minor premiers Sydney Sixers.

“(The season) has been a bit up and down, at the beginning of the season I was getting dropped and we had an ordinary start as well losing a few games,” Brown told cricket.com.au.

“But we’ve turned it around and had a strong end of the season, we found our groove and made the semi-finals which was awesome.”

The 21-year-old right-arm pace bowler, who is also a handy lower-order batter, has been a consistent member of the Renegades XI since being recalled for their match against the Scorchers on December 22.

“(Being dropped) sucked, but I tried to be really positive around the group and not let it get to me too much because I knew there could be opportunities throughout the season with it being really long,” Brown said.

“I wasn’t too disheartened, but it sucked. (Then) I took opportunities where I could, we played some different sides where we wanted more bowlers … so I was fortunate enough to get back into it and take a took wickets.”

Brown, who hails from Wingham on the mid-north coast of NSW and who plays her state cricket for the ACT, has routinely been thrown the ball during the death.

She relishes the pressure – particularly when she’s being stared down by some of the world’s best batters.

It’s a challenge she’s looking forward to taking on again this weekend, against a Sixers’ line-up that includes Australian stars Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner.

“I’m reasonably happy with how I’ve been going, I’m trying to do my best at the death,” she said.

“It can be a bit nerve wracking (bowling to the world’s best) but I actually really enjoy it because it’s so challenging, they’re really good so if you miss you could go for a boundary.

“I’m extra focused when it comes to bowling to Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry but it’s awesome, I love it.”

While she’s been getting the job done with the ball and in the field this season, Brown has also attracted plenty of attention on social media for a bizarre skill: her ability to speak and sing with her mouth shut.

Brown explained she’d taught herself the strange skill while sitting in the car on long road trips with her family as a child.

“I used to do it a lot in school so when the video came out all my old schoolmates commented on it,” she laughed. “It started when I was in primary school I think, I was very bored in the car.”

On the field, the Renegades’ bowling unit has been their strength this season, with their decision to sign some of the country’s most promising young bowling talent when the competition was in its fledging stages now paying off.

Alongside Brown, who is a member of Cricket Australia’s National Performance Squad, there’s recent Australian debutants Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham, while another international, Tayla Vlaeminck, has unfortunately been ruled out of WBBL|04 due to a knee injury.

When joined by star New Zealand quick Lea Tahuhu and experienced off-spinner Molly Strano, it’s the sort of attack that could pose problems even for the competition’s best.

The Sixers will head into Saturday’s semi-final as heavy favourites, but Brown said the Renegades have at least one factor in their favour.

“We’re the underdogs so all the pressure’s on them,” she said.

“We’ve got nothing to lose, we’re going to give it our all.”