England seam-bowler Issy Wong took four wickets on the opening day of a four-day game between England A and Australia A in Sydney.
Issy Wong shines for England A
Wong, who was playing the second first-class match of her career and the first since she made her Test debut against South Africa in 2022, struck twice in the opening session after Australia A opted to bat. She bowled Maddy Darke for five in the 11th over of the day, before getting Anika Learoyd, who slashed a ball to Alice Capsey at second slip for 16.
That wicket left Australia A 50-3, with Surrey pacer Eva Gray having taken the first wicket of the innings, dismissing Tahlia Wilson for 11.
England A and Wong continued to make inroads after the lunch interval, despite a strong partnership between captain Charli Knott and Rachel Trenaman. Wong broke the partnership as it neared three figures, with Knott mistiming a pull to Paige Scholfield at mid wicket. Capsey then made the important breakthrough of Trenaman, who spliced a drive to Jodie Grewcock at backward point, and had to walk back for 77. Wong's final wicket of the day gave England A a seventh before the close, splattering Tess Flintoff's stumps to be within reach of a five-for tomorrow morning, with overnight figures of 4-57.
Australia A went into the close at 315-7, with the game in the balance after day one.
Wong's return to form in the game marks an important milestone for her, having only featured sporadically for England since her breakthrough year in 2022. She made her debut across all formats in the year and picked up a WPL contract with Mumbai Indians, taking a memorable hat-trick in the semi-final.
ISSY WONG TAKES THE FIRST-EVER WPL HAT-TRICK!
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 24, 2023
☝️☝️☝️#WPL2023 pic.twitter.com/mHjDq7bm5r
However, she wasn't included in England's main squad for the 2023 T20 World Cup and struggled when selected for a T20I against Sri Lanka later that year, conceding 24 runs in two overs that included three no balls and a wide. She featured again against Ireland last year when England's senior squad was mostly in the UAE ahead of the T20 World Cup.
More recently, Wong has been working with England Women's Pace Development programme, which includes a group of players on the fringes of the senior England squad given specialist coaching at Loughborough.
The match in Sydney is the final game of a multi-format series for the A teams. England A won the three-match T20 series 1-0 after rain washed out the last two matches, while Australia A claimed the ODI series 2-1.
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