Issy Wong

Wong was born in Chelsea, London, England, as a second-generation Englishwoman with an interesting heritage. Her mother, Rachael, a freelance writer on cricket-related topics,[2] is a native of Yorkshire, where, according to Ian McMillan, cricket "... has something to do with history, politics and the idea of working men standing together to help one another, but it's also about family and belonging."[3] Her father, Dom, has Cantonese ancestry, and a close connection with Hong Kong.[4][5][6]

Two of Wong's great-uncles played international cricket for the Hong Kong men's team.[5] One of them, Donald Anderson, was a lieutenant in the Hong Kong defence force, and was shot dead by a Japanese sniper during the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941.[6][7] Only after Wong took up cricket did her family discover that he had also been a talented batting all-rounder, who, aged 17, had been the youngest cricketer to represent Hong Kong.[6]

In the aftermath of Donald Anderson's death, Wong's great grandmother, Phyllis Nolasco da Silva (née Anderson), recruited and ran a World War II network of spies in southern China for British Military Intelligence.[6][8] After the war, she was decorated with the United Kingdom's highest civilian wartime award, the King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom.[6]

Wong is also descended, through her great grandfather, from the Macanese Nolasco da Silva family, which was long-established and prominent in Portuguese Macau.[8][9] Wong's Nolasco da Silva relatives include Pedro Nolasco da Silva (1842–1912), a writer and politician,[10] and Isabella Leong (born 1988), a Macau-born, Hong Kong-based actress, former singer and former partner of Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li.[9]

At the age of five, Wong moved with her family from London to Warwickshire.[4] There, aged six,[11] she became involved in an after-school Chance to Shine cricket program run by her primary school, as one of just two girls in a group of 50 boys. She was soon besotted with the game.[4][6][12]

Wong also took up a suggestion of her after-school coaches by joining the local Knowle and Dorridge Cricket Club at the end of her street. At that club, she was the only girl in a team of boys.[5][6][12] A year later, she was selected in the Warwickshire Under 11s as part of the county's academy program.[6] In 2020, Warwickshire's high-performance manager, Paul Greetham, told ESPNcricinfo:

"From a very early age she had this obvious desire to bowl quicker than anybody else, particularly, and as her batting's developed, she's learnt she can hit the ball quite a long way as well, so she's always had a bit of X-factor about her, and always shown a high level of ambition without coming across as arrogant or cocky ...

I can remember as a 12- or 13-year-old she was stating that she wanted to be the fastest women's bowler ever. She's always had that about her.

The other thing that I think sort of set her apart is that she always seemed very comfortable playing amongst boys, and she wasn't just satisfied with playing alongside them, she wanted to beat them. I've always admired that about her."[4]

Between 2015 and 2020, Wong attended Shrewsbury School.[4][13][14] It has been said that as a Salopian schoolgirl "... she was gifted academically, as well as being a superstar on the cricket field."[14]

In 2017, Wong was part of the near-capacity crowd of spectators at the Women's Cricket World Cup Final.[15][16] In 2018, she was selected for the School Games National Cricket Finals,[17] and in 2019, she became the first girl to play for Shrewsbury School's Boys 1st XI.[14]

Wong is a fast bowler, who can bowl at speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h).[4] She started playing domestic cricket for Warwickshire.[4] In 2019, she was part of the Warwickshire under-17s team that won their national competition, and the Warwickshire senior team that won the 2019 Women's Twenty20 Cup.[16] She also played for Southern Vipers in the 2019 Women's Cricket Super League.[4][18] She was the youngest player in the competition, and made three appearances in the tournament.[16]

In 2020, Wong was given a professional contract by the West Midlands regional hub.[5] In the same year, she was selected to play for Central Sparks in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.[19] She made three appearances in the tournament, as she was limited by her England playing commitments.[20] In a match against North West Thunder, Wong took three wickets, which helped reduce Thunder to 18/4. She finished the match with figures of 3/26, including 47 dot balls,[21] and was named player of the match.[18] In December 2020, Wong was one of 41 women's cricketers given a full-time domestic cricket contract.[22] Wong was selected to play for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred;[23] the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Wong was retained by Phoenix for the 2021 season.[24]

Wong was the third-highest wicket-taker in the 2021 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 14 wickets including taking 5/49 against Northern Diamonds.[25][26] She also took 6 wickets at an average of 32.00 in The Hundred for Birmingham Phoenix.[27]

In October 2021, it was announced that Wong had signed for Sydney Thunder for the upcoming WBBL|07 season, as a replacement for the injured Shabnim Ismail.[28] Later that month, in a profile published in The Sydney Morning Herald to introduce her to Australians, her father was quoted as saying that "... with her attitude, she's more like an Aussie ... She really gets stuck in. She's never beaten."[6]

On 9 November 2021, while batting for the Thunder against Adelaide Strikers at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide, Wong caused a sensation by hitting a total of six sixes: three in a row off South African captain Dane van Niekerk, two more off Australian international spearhead Megan Schutt, and another one off another Australian international, Amanda-Jade Wellington, who eventually bowled her for 43 runs from only 17 balls. Although Wong's innings did not prevent the Strikers from winning the match, it did combine with her successful bowling performances in several WBBL matches to generate speculation that she would be selected for the England's Women's Ashes squad due to tour Australia in January-February 2022. By 13 November 2021, when Wong was named player of the match for taking 2 for 27 in the Thunder's win against the Sydney Sixers at Mackay, Queensland, she had taken a total of seven wickets during WBBL|07, all of them of capped international players.[29][30][31]

In April 2022, she was bought by the Birmingham Phoenix for the 2022 season of The Hundred.[32]

In 2019, Wong played for the England Academy in a match against Australia A.[33] She was added to the England Academy squad for the 2019/20 season.[4] In 2020, Wong was one of 24 England players to resume training during the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] Wong was one of three uncapped players in the training squad; the others were Lauren Bell and Emma Lamb.[34] She was a nets bowler for the England players ahead of their series against the West Indies,[5] but was not selected in the squad for the series.[35] In January 2021, Wong travelled with the England squad for their series against New Zealand but was not part of the playing squad.[36]

In December 2021, Wong was named in England's A squad for their tour to Australia, with the matches being played alongside the Women's Ashes.[37]

Wong's second favourite sport is association football.[38] She and her family are diehard fans of Liverpool Football Club. Her father took her, wrapped in his coat, to her first Liverpool game when she was just six months old. She also supports NBA basketball team the Golden State Warriors.[39]

Off the sporting field, Wong's all-time favourite film is the Disney production Cars. "I was four when it came out and I used to watch it every day. I pretty much know the whole thing off by heart," she has said. When she first played Super League, she chose the shirt number 95, as a reference to the racing number of Lightning McQueen: "He wanted to be fast, I want to bowl fast, so it works!"[38]

Wong also plays the guitar "not very well",[38] and is able to solve a Rubik's Cube in a few seconds. She was seen doing so during the 2019 Women's Cricket Super League finals day.[4] "I used to walk to school with a mate and he could do it while we were walking and just chatting away," she told the i. "He ended up teaching me – it wasn't a hobby, it was more a party trick."[12]

• Issy Wong at ESPNcricinfo
• Issy Wong at CricketArchive (subscription required)