Hobart Hurricanes sign England pacer Wong for 8th season of WBBL

HOBART: Hobart Hurricanes announced England pacer Issy Wong as their third and final international ahead of the eighth edition of Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old pace bowler first made a name for herself amongst Australian cricket fans, when the Sydney Thunder signed her as an injury replacement for South African bowler and WBBL 06 Player of the Final, Shabnim Ismail.

With big shoes to fill in a young Thunder side, the then-teenager displayed steady improvement through her debut WBBL tournament, finishing with a total of nine wickets to her name from her 13 games played at an economy of 7.28.

Wong also showed she can make an impact with the bat when required, highlighted by her incredible 43 off just 17 deliveries made against eventual finalists, the Adelaide Strikers, with an innings that included six boundaries - all of them sixes.

Since her inaugural summer in Australia, Wong's star has continued to rise in her native England, making her Twenty20 International, One-Day International and Test debuts throughout the northern hemisphere's 2022 summer. She was also selected to represent England for the Commonwealth Games debut of T20 cricket in her hometown of Birmingham.

"I cannot wait to come back to Australia for the WBBL," Wong said in a statement. "To be honest, it has been a bit of a whirlwind since I got the call up to join the Thunder last year, and I cannot be more thankful for how that has helped me and my career."

"I had a great time at the Thunder last season, but I am looking forward to joining the Hurricanes this year. We had a really great match against them at the end of last season, and they have got some more really experienced players who have come on board since then, so I cannot wait to meet everyone and get stuck into learning as much as I can," she concluded.

Wong joins Nicola Carey, Mignon du Preez (o/s), Maisy Gibson, Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Lizelle Lee (o/s), Emma Manix-Geeves, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Amy Smith, Naomi Stalenberg, Molly Strano, Rachel Trenaman and Elyse Villani as players currently contracted for WBBL 08.

Tickets for the upcoming W/BBL season will be released for sale this week, with the WBBL being ticketed League-wide for the first time in 2022.