Maitlan Brown admits her 12-week injury layoff made her miserable.
The ACT Meteor didn't want to leave the house let alone go to training. For a fleeting moment she even feared her career had stalled when doctors found found a stress fracture in her leg.
But the injury that derailed her hopes of breaking into the Australian team for the Ashes looms as a turning point for her Women's Big Bash League season.
Instead of sulking, Brown has spent the majority over her recovery in the nets to improve her batting in a bid to become an all-rounder for the Twenty20 tournament.
Brown is hoping to make her comeback when the Melbourne Renegades play against the Sydney Thunder at North Sydney Oval on Saturday.
"I was probably a bit dramatic, I thought my career was over and didn't know what I was going to do," Brown said.
"But the girls really helped me and checked in all the time. That was helpful because it was my first injury, it was pretty depressing.
"I cast myself as a pretty happy person and see the positives in everything. But when I had the injury I didn't feel like going to training and when I was there, I just wanted to go home.
"I was a bit moody and I hated it. It sucks not being able to do what you love. We didn't know what was going on until I got the scan, from there we got on top of it.
"Missing out on the Cricket Australia games and the Ashes ... that was really tough. The good thing is I've been working on my batting for the past eight weeks.
"You never get to do that as a bowler, so it was a bit of a blessing in disguise. You've got to be an all-rounder in cricket these days, especially in T20s. But the injury still sucked."
Brown is one of 12 Meteors spread around the WBBL teams, while ACT assistant coach and former skipper Kris Britt will also resume her playing career for the Renegades.
Erin Osborne and Katie Mack will team up for the Melbourne Stars, Dane Van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, Erin Burns, Angela Reakes and Emily Lays are at the Sydney Sixers, Sam Bates at the Thunder and Nicola Hancock at the Hobart Hurricanes.
Brown and Britt will be joined by Claire Koski and Hayley Jensen at the Renegades.
The competition is hoping to capitalise on the wave of support for female athletes and ride the success of the women's Ashes, which Australia won last month.
Brown, 20, is just focused on launching her season after making her WBBL debut as a teenager for the Renegades last year.
She spent some of the off-season playing in Sri Lanka and was part of an Australian development camp in Brisbane before she was ruled out for three months.
Medical staff ordered Brown to stay away from cricket for longer than normal to ensure the stress fracture was not an ongoing problem.
"Last year was a learning experience for me being so raw into the whole set up," Brown said.
"I'll have a bit more confidence in myself now, a bit more self-belief knowing I can actually play cricket at that level. Hopefully I can get some more exposure to the WBBL."
