Brown out to push case for recall with Aus A after Cup axing

Consistency is key for Darcie Brown as she heads to India eager to force her way back into Australian calculations.

Brown was a surprise omission from Australia's squad that won the T20 World Cup in England earlier this year, squeezed out by fellow quick Lucy Hamilton who cemented her spot in the XI throughout the tournament.

After a winter spent fine-tuning on her game in Adelaide with some technical tweaks she hopes will solve the consistency issues that saw her lose her spot for the World Cup, Brown is part of the Australia A squad that landed in India earlier this week for a multi-format series that begins with the first of three 20-over matches in Chandigarh on Saturday.

The 23-year-old will feature across the white-ball legs of the series, before heading home to potentially play South Australia's second domestic one-day game of the season, and begin her build towards the WBBL season.

It's an opportunity that has come at the ideal moment for Brown, given Australia's next major tournament is the inaugural T20 Champions Trophy next February, which was moved from Sri Lanka to India earlier this month.

"It was disappointing for sure, you always want to be part of a World Cup squad, but the girls did such a great job, and everyone that was there fully deserved to be there," Brown told cricket.com.au this week.

"They said it was a tough call, but it was just that (lack of) consistency that squeezed me out.

"Hopefully the work I've done over the last little bit has helped me with that and I can take a few more wickets … the last few tours hadn't been as successful so hopefully with that consistency, I can get batters to make more mistakes and hopefully push my name for selection in upcoming tours.

"It's a really hard team to break into, so I'll work my butt off, but at the end of the day, as long as I'm putting in 100 per cent effort, that's what I can control."

When that World Cup squad was revealed in early June, national selector Shawn Flegler backed the South Australian to step up her game, saying she remained very much in the mix for Australian honours.

"We've been trying to get Darce up over the last couple of years to be a frontline bowler in the Powerplay (but) she just hasn't quite nailed that opportunity," Flegler said at the time.

"We still think she's going to have a great career for Australia … she's still a young fast bowler, so it's not the end."

Brown has travelled to India with the Australian squad on three previous occasions, for bilateral series in 2022 and 2023 alongside last year's ODI World Cup.

She had relatively few opportunities on those tours, however, playing two of five T20Is in 2022, two one-dayers and a T20 on the seven-game all-format 2023 tour, and three ODIs in 2025.

The 'A' trip will give Brown a chance to work out how to best deploy her pace in subcontinent conditions, while also working on the factors that led to her omission from the World Cup squad.

"I was here last year for the one-day World Cup but didn't get to play a whole lot, so hopefully I can get a bit more experience and learn off the other girls as well, and also help (other bowlers) in a leadership way," Brown said.

"It's a really great challenge for me as a pace bowler to learn different things to help me become effective (in these conditions).

"I've worked on a few technique things just to help with some consistency, and even hopefully to get a bit more bounce and pace behind the ball.

"I'm trying to be a bit stronger on my back foot to propel myself towards the batters, which will hopefully help my consistency out a lot, so we'll wait and see.

"I haven't played for a long time, so I'm really keen to see everything that I've worked on for the last few months put into action."

Brown is part of a strong cohort of quicks included in the Australia A squad, alongside Tayla Vlaeminck who is poised to feature in just her second official match since returning from a lengthy injury lay-off after dislocating her shoulder at the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Tess Flintoff, who was cut from the CA contract list earlier this year, also features alongside fellow pace-bowling allrounders Sianna Ginger and Hayley Silver-Holmes.

Maitlan Brown however has been ruled out of the tour due to a hamstring injury, with Victoria's Milly Illingworth replacing her in the squad.

Nicole Faltum is leading Australia A in the shortest format, before Tahlia Wilson (50-over) and Rachel Trenaman (four-day) take the reins later in the tour.

Australia A tour of India 2026 – women

Australia A squad: Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Sianna Ginger, Milly Illingworth, Charli Knott, Anika Learoyd, Katie Mack, Lilly Mills, Frankie Nicklin, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Rachel Trenaman, Courtney Webb, Tahlia Wilson, Tayla Vlaeminck

First T20: September 12, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium, 10:30pm AEST

Second T20: September 15, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium, 10:30pm AEST

Third T20: September 17, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium, 10:30pm AEST

First one-dayer: September 20, IS Bindra Stadium, 6:30pm AEST (D/N)

Second one-dayer: September 23, IS Bindra Stadium, 1:30pm AEST

Third one-dayer: September 25, IS Bindra Stadium, 6:30pm AEST (D/N)

Four-dayer: September 29 – October 2, Himachal Pradesh Stadium, 2pm AEST