Victorian fast bowler Brody Couch opens up on breakout season, areas of improvement and desire to play for the USA

The Victorian fast bowler has been using the off-season to prepare himself to build on his breakout domestic campaign.

A Sheffield Shield debut, one-day cricket for Victoria and leading wicket-taker for the Melbourne Stars in BBL11 - the Nirranda export's past season was a whirlwind ride and a reminder of his bright future.

Couch also played a strong role for his club Geelong in Premier Cricket, snaring 16 wickets from his eight matches in between state commitments.

The 22-year-old - the oldest of five cricket-mad siblings - is back in training and ready to take another leap forward.

"I've enjoyed the time off, as good as the season was it was crazy with COVID but all in all, I took a lot of confidence from last season," he told The Standard.

"Playing Big Bash cricket for the Stars, getting a good opportunity in the white ball stuff for the Vics and playing Shield, I got a good taste for the level and getting a good run in the white ball stuff I can take confidence knowing I'm up to the standard.

"Moving forward, I know I can contribute to team success and that's the main thing to do long-term."

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The south-west product said the Victorian squad was back into official pre-season training. He said when he started bowling again on June 20 and ramping up his preparation, he'd be looking to fine tune areas of his game.

"There's a few specifics with my bowling action I'm looking to improve on," he said.

"Where I release the ball, I want to get it tighter into the stumps, so that's a big thing. It's interesting when you work on your action, things take a lot of time with muscle memory, so it'll be a work in progress.

"I just want to keep building on the last two pre-seasons, get stronger and taking my running up another level.

"I got the taste of Shield, it's a slog mentally and physically, so one of my main goals is to be as fit as possible when or if that opportunity comes again this season."

Couch said his Shield debut against New South Wales had given him motivation to keep pushing hard to play more red-ball cricket.

"It's the pinnacle, red-ball cricket and playing on the SCG on debut, a historic ground, I got a good taste," he said.

"I'm hungry to play more and be part of a successful team as well."

The right-armer decided to enjoy time off after contemplating playing overseas or in Darwin during winter.

"Initially, I was hoping to play somewhere, although being a bowler it's a bit different," he said.

"Being young, while my action is still developing, having a rest for my back was good and a bit precautionary."

The former Warrnambool and District junior cricketer said he was interested in playing for the USA one day, with his mother Karin growing up on a dairy farm in Albany, New York.

He believes with the rise of cricket in the 'states, it opens up potential opportunities to further his cricket.

"I'm a dual-citizen, so I'm pretty lucky there, and I do want to explore that a bit more in the future," he said.

"It's one of those things that can open up so many opportunities playing cricket all over the world.

"It's definitely an option moving forward which is really exciting."

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