New Chandigarh, Sep 11 (IANS) Stung by her surprise omission from Australia's 2026 T20 World Cup-winning squad, fast bowler Darcie Brown is banking on the upcoming 'A' tour of India to regain her consistency and push her case for a recall to the national team.

Darcie was a notable omission from Australia's successful campaign in England earlier this year, with youngster Lucy Hamilton taking her place in the squad. Darcie then spent the off-season fine-tuning her mechanics in Adelaide, and focusing on technical tweaks to address the control issues that cost her a spot in the side.

Now part of the Australia ‘A’ squad in India for a multi-format series starting with the first T20I in New Chandigarh on Saturday, Darcie sees the tour as a timely opportunity to get back into the main team ahead of the inaugural Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in India next February.

"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. 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," Darcie was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au on Friday.

Having toured India on three previous occasions with the senior team, Darice had limited game time in subcontinental conditions. She believes this 'A' series will allow her to adapt her high pace to subcontinental pitches while stepping into a senior role.

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

Detailed technical adjustments formed a major part of Darcie’s pre-tour preparations back home. "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," she added.

Darcie forms part of a potent Australian pace unit alongside Tayla Vlaeminck, who continues her comeback from a shoulder injury, Tess Flintoff, Sianna Ginger, and Hayley Silver-Holmes. Meanwhile, fast bowler Maitlan Brown was ruled out of the tour with a hamstring injury and has been replaced by Milly Illingworth.

The Australia ‘A’ women’s tour of India features distinct captains across formats, with Nicole Faltum leading the T20 side, followed by Tahlia Wilson for the 50-over matches and Rachel Trenaman for the four-day fixture.

--IANS

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