Issy Wong

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.

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.

In the aftermath of Donald Anderson's death, Wong's great-grandmother, Phyllis Nolasco da Silva, recruited and ran a World War II network of spies in southern China for British Military Intelligence.

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.

Wong is also descended, through her great-grandfather, from the Macanese Nolasco da Silva family, which was long-established and prominent in Portuguese Macau.

At the age of five, Wong moved with her family from London to Warwickshire.

There, she attended Bentley Heath Primary School in Solihull.

At the age of six, she became involved in an after-school Chance to Shine cricket scheme run by the school, as one of just two girls in a group of 50 boys.

She was soon besotted with the game.

In 2022, she and Lauren Bell became the first full Chance to Shine participants to play for England.

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.

A year later, she was selected in the Warwickshire Under 11s as part of the county's academy project.

Isabelle Eleanor Chih Ming Wong (born 15 May 2002) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Warwickshire, Central Sparks, Birmingham Phoenix, Mumbai Indians and England as a fast-medium bowler.

She has previously played for Southern Vipers in the Women's Cricket Super League and Sydney Thunder in the Women's Big Bash League.

She made her debut for England in June 2022.

Wong was born in Chelsea, London, England.

Her mother, Rachael, a freelance writer on cricket-related topics, is a native of Yorkshire.

Her father, Dom, has Macanese ancestry, and a close connection with Hong Kong.

Two of Wong's great-uncles played international cricket for the Hong Kong men's team.

Wong was also one of the founder members of Berkswell Cricket Club's women's section which launched in 2015.

Between 2015 and 2020, Wong attended Shrewsbury School.

In 2017, Wong was part of the near-capacity crowd of spectators at the Women's Cricket World Cup Final.

In 2018, she was selected for the School Games National Cricket Finals, and in 2019, she became the first girl to play for Shrewsbury School's Boys 1st XI.

Wong is a fast bowler, who can bowl at speeds in excess of 70 mph. She started playing domestic cricket for Warwickshire.

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.

She also played for Southern Vipers in the 2019 Women's Cricket Super League.

She was the youngest player in the competition, and made three appearances in the tournament.

In 2020, Wong was given a professional contract by the West Midlands regional hub.

In the same year, she was selected to play for Central Sparks in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

She made three appearances in the tournament, as she was limited by her England playing commitments.

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, and was named player of the match.

In December 2020, Wong was one of 41 women's cricketers given a full-time domestic cricket contract.

Wong was selected to play for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred; the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Wong was retained by Phoenix for the 2021 season.

Wong was the third-highest wicket-taker in the 2021 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 14 wickets including taking 5/49 against Northern Diamonds.

She also took 6 wickets at an average of 32.00 in The Hundred for Birmingham Phoenix.

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.

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."

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.