Rejuvenated Brown has designs on Aussie recall

It's hard not to be swept along by the joie de vivre of Maitlan Brown at the best of times, and after a long stint on the sidelines recovering from a serious hamstring injury, the 23-year-old is just about jumping out of her skin with excitement.

Brown was topping the 120kph mark with her bowling before she ripped her hamstring tendon off the bone last November while batting in a WBBL match.

It was a bitter blow; the injury required surgery that would sideline her for the remainder of the summer.

A month earlier, Brown had got her first taste of international cricket when she was part of the Australia squad for a limited overs series against New Zealand in Brisbane, and a strong WBBL and one-day season would only have enhanced her claim for a spot in Australia's playing XI.

"I'm six months and (a few) days post-op and I'm feeling really strong and fit, and probably even better than how I was before, which is really exciting," Brown tells cricket.com.au from her new home in Sydney, having moved from Canberra to join the NSW Breakers for the coming season.

"I'm feeling super quick, I've been doing a lot of running technique and lots of strength stuff.

"Rehab has been pretty chock-a-block since about Christmas time so I'm feeling really confident. I'm ready to start come day one of pre-season."

After five years with the ACT Meteors, who took a punt on the 19-year-old rookie in 2016, Brown will clock on for her first stint with the Breakers next month, earlier than the rest of the squad just to ensure she's ready when her new teammates arrive. Her enthusiasm is palpable.

"It's super exciting, I'm just so stoked," she says of the prospect of returning to the game.

"It's just mainly been gym and running stuff … the season is still a long way away, there's no real rush to get into bowling too early. I'm going to come back slightly earlier than everyone else, so I've got a little bit of a head start so I'm not feeling like I'm dragging behind.

"But in terms of actually picking up the ball and letting it rip, I'm not too sure (what to expect). I'm hoping I'm at about the same pace. And look, I've been working on the guns, so who knows, I could be quicker!

"I'm feeling really good physically, and mentally I'm really prepared for the season – I've had a really nice break."

Brown endured the long and lonely hours in the gym that is part and parcel of rehab from a major injury, but also had the benefit of a creative outlet in her industrial design degree at the University of Canberra.

Named the ACT's Emerging Artist of the Year, she was invited to showcase her award-winning design that turned recycled plastic bottles into outdoor lounge furniture.

"When I was not able to do anything physically, I was fortunate that I had design to fall back on and I was working on a couple of really cool projects at uni," she explains.

"I pretty much just tried to focus all my energy that I'd (otherwise) be spending on something physical into my design work.

"I don't think I would have got my piece ready for the exhibition if I was still training, so there was a bit of a silver lining there.

"I was just focused on my uni and tried to be really creative, and that makes me feel really good and puts me in a really good headspace."

With her final assignment submitted, Brown intends to keep up her design work with "a few side-hustles" that will keep her mentally fresh.

"If your headspace is just full-time into cricket it can be a little bit overwhelming, so it's really nice to have something else on the side that you can detach from cricket and have a bit of a rest."

But the primary focus is returning to her best on the field, and she's not shy to admit her eyes are set on regaining her place in the Australia set-up.

Watching from home as the Australia juggernaut rolled on to new heights in March's tour of New Zealand proved tough, and with an Ashes series and ODI World Cup on the horizon there's no shortage of motivation.

"I had a fair bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) recently when the girls went over to New Zealand and that fuelled my fire, that's what's been getting me through rehab," Brown says.

"Especially in Canberra when you wake up for the early mornings and it's freezing cold, I'm always thinking about my goal to play for Australia and that gets me up and going.

"I've had a pretty big gap from cricket so I'm really, really keen to get back and train … I definitely have those goals in mind and I think moving to NSW has set me up in a really good position to achieve that."

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