Perry inspires as Brown eyes positive outlook while sidelined

Maitlan Brown is determined to find the positives in her toughest setback to date and is looking to Ellyse Perry's successful return from the same injury for inspiration.

Brown tore her hamstring from the bone after slipping while attempting a sweep shot during the Renegades' defeat to the Hobart Hurricanes on November 3.

Bowled after missing the delivery from Hurricanes spinner Sasha Moloney, Brown stood up and walked from the ground in relatively little pain, believing that at worst, she may have just slightly strained the tendon.

Taken for a scan, the pace-bowling allrounder was shocked to be told the severity of the injury, which required surgery and is set to sideline the 23-year-old for six months.

It is a bitter blow after Brown was recently included in an Australia limited-overs squad for the first time, and who was bowling with impressive pace early in the Rebel WBBL season.

"It's going to be a long process … but there's no rush for me to get back, which is nice," Brown told cricket.com.au following her surgery.

"It's been nice I got to prove myself a bit in the first part of the season and train with the Aussie squad, but it also sucks because there are a couple of Aussie tours coming up that I'll miss out on.

"But hopefully I'll get a strong upper body and (bowl) even quicker next year."

Brown's injury is similar to the one suffered by Perry during the T20 World Cup, and the star Australia allrounder has reached out to provide counsel to her young Australian teammate.

"I've had coffee with Pez a couple of times, I had coffee with her the day before my surgery. She's been really good and has given me a couple of tips and a bit of an insight into how her journey went," Brown said.

"It's nice to have someone to support me who has been through it."

The long recovery period will rule Brown out of the 50-over domestic season as well as any series Australia play in the first half of 2021.

If everything goes to plan, Brown will be able to put in a full preseason and state her case for higher honours ahead of a 12-month period that will include the 2021-22 Ashes, the 2022 ODI World Cup, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and 2022 T20 World Cup.

The allrounder has remained in the WBBL Village after undergoing surgery on Wednesday; an unconventional move that is nonetheless quintessential Brown, who admitted the thought of being removed from her teammates was too much to bear.

Her partner David arrived in the hub this week for a pre-planned visit, providing extra support as Brown attempts to navigate hotel life on crutches.

"I wanted to stay here and get around the girls as much as I could, because I can't control what's happened but I can control what I can do, which is get amongst the girls and hype them up before the games," Brown explained.

"If I was out of here and I was watching the girls playing and having fun, I'd have a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out).

"Also, I don't have to cook or clean, it's nice having all the facilities here, as well as the physios and doctors."

The heartbeat of a close-knit Renegades' side, Brown will help keep morale up through the latter stages of a regular season that has yielded just one win to date.

Unfortunately for the club, she has company in the injury ward, after leg-spinner Georgia Wareham was ruled out for the season due to a stress reaction in her shin.

But in good news for the 21-year-old, the injury was caught early and she revealed on broadcast last week she was hopeful of being fit for the Women's National Cricket League, likely to be played in early 2021.