There was a time when Tahlia McGrath didn't say boo around the Australian women's cricket team.
Now the Australian vice-captain is vocal and a genuine leader in the team and ready to assist returned captain Meg Lanning in every way possible in the ODI and T20 international series against Pakistan, which starts with an ODI at Brisbane's Allan Border Field on Monday.
The 27-year-old allrounder got a taste of the vice-captaincy on last year's tour of India but with Alyssa Healy rested from the series due to injury she gets another crack at the role ahead of next month's T20 World Cup in South Africa where Healy will slot back in.
"I am very shy, very quiet. It took me about three years to say a word in this group but I have come a long way," McGrath said.
"I am very privileged and honoured to have the role even though it is temporary.
"It has helped my game. It has helped my confidence. It has helped me speak up in team meetings and lead from the front a bit more as well."
McGrath pointed to a mentoring and leadership program with former Australian cricket captain Belinda Clark as key in her development.
"That was a huge turning point in my leadership journey, the mentor program with her," she said.
"We still keep in contact and she is someone that challenged me a lot and made me get out of my comfort zone. I owe a lot to her."
McGrath, like all her teammates, is thrilled to have Lanning back captaining the team after she took an extended break from the game.
"From my experiences captaining (Adelaide Strikers) in the Big Bash it is such a big job and until you do it you don't realise all the extra pressures," she said.
"I am keen to help Meg out wherever possible and take some of those pressures of her."
McGrath won four player-of-the-match awards in her first four innings for Australia in T20 internationals. After debuting in national colours in 2016 she spent three years out of the team but is now one of the first picked.
"I think (about) that stint on the sidelines where I was not making the eleven ... now I go out there and just enjoy every minute it," she said.
"I play to my strengths and it is working for me.
"I don't think I have played a 50-over (game) since the World Cup. My role won't change too much. I am pretty sure I will be coming in the middle order so it is pretty much a T20 role for me."
