Issy Wong is one of the quickest bowlers in the women’s game. After being out of the England team for almost a year, she returned to international cricket recently, and is now looking forward to the upcoming T20 World Cup at home. She took the Women’s Premier League’s first-ever hattrick, in the inaugural edition in 2023, in which she played a key role in Mumbai Indians’ triumph.
Excerpts from Wong’s interview over the phone with The Hindu:
Who do you think could be the strongest contenders at the T20 World Cup that starts next week in England?
We just had a really competitive series against New Zealand and they are the reigning world champions. We obviously know that the talent of Australia, India and South Africa is enormous.
But the brilliant thing about cricket is that it is an individual team sport, isn’t it? So, you know, any team is only one brilliant individual performance away from beating anyone else. That is why people love the game. That is why people watch cricket. It is genuinely a sport where anything can happen.
You did very well in the inaugural edition of the WPL, in which you helped Mumbai Indians win the title.
I love playing out there in India. As a place to tour and as a place to play sort of franchise cricket, it is right up there. I love the passion for the game that you always feel there is in India.
It is super exciting to know what you are doing has that entertainment factor. That is why we do it, isn’t it? In India, that first year of the WPL really gave me that platform to go out and enjoy my cricket and try and hope that people enjoy that too.
The one thing that stands out for me personally is the hattrick [against UP Warriorz]. That was also the sort of moment where we thought, ‘We are almost in the final here’. That will go down as one of the best moments in my career. I had a good group of people that I just enjoyed being with and sharing the field with.
How was it being part of the champion side?
It was cool. It was my first experience of being part of a championship-winning side. And there was so much to learn off all the people involved. I got to spend a lot of time with Nat [Sciver-Brunt]. You know her skillset. Her experience and being from an English background as well, it was cool to watch her up close.
There were of course other overseas players, Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, and the Indian superstars as well, like Harmanpreet Kaur, Yastika Bhatia. Building relationships with those players, learning a bit from them. How they see the game is sometimes quite different to us. I found that fascinating. We had a good run as well, which always helps. I guess you always have more fun when you are winning.
And your coach at MI was Charlotte Edwards, whom you have now reunited with in the England team.
She is all right, isn’t she? It was cool to build that relationship with Lottie. She was the perfect sort of coach, especially in that first year, given the last-minute nature of it. She just kind of helped us ride that wave as a playing group. There can be a lot of noise around that competition and a lot of distractions away from what we do on the pitch.
The toughest batters you have bowled to?
Good question. I think there are so many good batters and it feels like the batters just keep getting better and better. As bowlers, it’s hard for us to keep up with them; maybe balls are going farther. But I think we are also bowling quicker or turning it more.
We have just played against Sophie Devine, and she has played, I think, one of the great T20 innings at Canterbury. Last year, Matthews got a hundred at Canterbury as well. Those two recently have really tested our bowling attacks and they are pretty tricky.
And also, the Indian team is stacked full of brilliant batters and they just keep coming as well, don’t they? You get one of them out and then out walks Harmanpreet. Every batter has her own strengths and weaknesses. And it’s exciting to be able to test yourself against them.
Who are the cricketers that you admired growing up?
Being English, there were obviously Anya Shrubsole, Katherine Sciver-Brunt. You can’t really get two better pace-bowling role models than them. To see them running in, representing England, their passion and extraordinarily high skill level…It was really inspiring to watch as a kid. From other countries, you look at people like Shabnim Ismail, Jhulan Goswami, and seeing those bowlers just makes you passionate about bowling fast.
How is The Hundred helping women’s cricket in England?
We have got players like Tilly Corteen-Coleman that have had success in The Hundred. I think about my time at MI and players like Saika Ishaque and (S.) Sajana that ended up representing their country and that happened quite quickly.
It has been really cool to see the young players coming through and embracing that platform that The Hundred gives them. Also, you look in the stands, you find lots of young girls, but also young boys coming to watch women’s cricket.
Crowd-puller: Wong lauds The Hundred’s impact. ‘You have young girls and boys engaging with both the men’s and women’s game and being entertained by both,’ she says.
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You have got both young girls and young boys really engaging with both the men’s and the women’s game and being entertained by both. We have seen it as well with women’s football in this country, everybody getting behind it. It is no longer just women’s cricket for women to watch. I think The Hundred talks a lot about equal exposure. And for us as players, it is really nice to promote that because we are playing for the same clubs, playing on the same days. It is such a fun tournament to be part of.
What are your memories of watching the 2017 World Cup final at Lord’s and how did it impact you as a young aspiring cricketer?
It has had a massive impact. There was a good core of us, probably younger players in the side now, that were in the stands at Lord’s and it just felt like a brilliant day watching women’s cricket. The final couldn’t have been much more dramatic than it was. And I think as a spectator, that was brilliant. And it really captured the hearts of loads of young, especially girls in England, you know. Nine years have gone by now. When you sit there at Lord’s watching our players win a World Cup for England on home soil, there is nothing more inspiring than that, nothing that makes you want to follow in their footsteps more.
Have you had a look at this boy called Vaibhav Sooryavanshi?
Yeah, a little bit. He whacks it, doesn’t he?
(This interview was facilitated by Sony Sports Network, which is broadcasting the England-India women’s bilateral series)
Published – June 06, 2026 12:47 am IST
