Issy Wong was yet to earn her England cap when she plied her trade for Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) last season. With an economy rate of 7.28, the England pacer bagged nine wickets in 13 games to cap off a successful season at the time. A year later, Wong was fast-tracked into international cricket as the England pacer made her debut across all formats in 2022.
Wong joined Hobart Hurricanes for WBBL 2022 in August and the Hundred star will now spearhead the pace attack of the Lionesses in India’s tour of England. Harmanpreet Kaur-led Team India will play three T20Is with hosts England on September 10, 13 and 15. Speaking to Hindustan Times during a media interaction on Thursday, England pacer Wong opened up about playing at the highest level across formats.
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“I enjoy Test cricket. The role I was given in that side – to bring the energy and try to make things happen. Yeah, I really enjoyed that. At the same time I love the pace of T20I. I love the rhythm that comes with ODI cricket. So in terms of which suits me the most – I’m not too sure. It probably depends on what’s going well for me. Relatively, with my stuff – ending the innings at the death, that probably works more in T20I. I’m not too sure but I love them all,” Wong said.
Wong eyes IPL debut in CSK colours
With the much-awaited women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) scheduled for a start from March 2023, Wong revealed that she would love to play for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise in the inaugural season. “I certainly consider going to the IPL, absolutely. I remember racing home from school to watch the IPL on telly and supporting Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Brendom McCullum played for Warwickshire, which is my county, then he went on to play for CSK in the IPL. I kind of followed them in that season and stuck with them when he left. The IPL is definitely something I’ll be looking forward to. It will be amazing to be a part of it,” Wong mentioned.
After the conclusion of the T20I opera, Harmanpreet-led Team India will lock horns with England for a three-match One Day International (ODI) series. Talking about India’s world-class batting lineup, Wong observed that the troika of vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, skipper Harmanpreet and opener Shafali Verma can dismantle any bowling attack in the international arena.
‘Shafali can take a side apart!’
India recorded its last meeting with England at the Commonwealth Games 2022. The Women In Blue outclassed hosts England to secure India’s first-ever silver medal at the showpiece event. Wong asserted that the visitors will pose a good challenge for a young England side.
“India are such a strong side because they have got so many world class players in their lineup. You look at Smriti Mandhana, You look at Harmanpreet Kaur. Shafali Verma can take a side apart. So I think it kind of depends on the kind of the day really, there are so many quality performers in the side you know on any given day, any one of them could take you apart. So that’s certainly an exciting challenge. That’s what you wanna do, when you play cricket you wanna play against the best teams in the world. India are one of the top teams in the world right now. So, yeah it will be a really good challenge for us as a relatively young squad,” Wong concluded.
