It is a home World Cup summer for England's women but during the build-up, at least, Issy Wong is embracing boredom. And if the team's hoped-for success inspires a stream of social media tributes, Wong won't be likely to see them.
She is excited, naturally, for her first World Cup proper. Six years after coming to wider attention as a teenage speedster who could also complete a Rubik's Cube in 33 seconds flat - perfect fodder for the #content era - and four years on from her debut summer for England, during which she featured in the Commonwealth Games, Wong is keen to make an impact in whatever way she can for coach Charlotte Edwards' side.
But even if she ends up running drinks throughout the tournament, her team-mates will know not to expect detailed updates on trending topics during breaks in play.
"I've deleted my Instagram off my phone," Wong says. "I've just sort of got rid of the distraction. You get sucked into it, I guess, especially when you're not home, you don't have your routines and stuff. It's really easy to just lose a day, just scrolling through - no offence, stuff on Instagram, it's rubbish, isn't it? None of it's meaningful.
"I've actually found that really helpful, like I've got my free time back to go out for coffee and explore. We're in different places all the time, [so I] get to explore Chelmsford and Brighton, we're off to Bristol in a couple of days…"
Wong's decision didn't have anything to do with experiencing negativity online - although that is something most sportswomen are used to - but was rather done on impulse while on England's training camp in Pretoria in March.
"We were in South Africa, and there was one day I spent the whole day on my phone. And I was like, 'There's got to be more to it than this, hasn't there?' Like, I've just lost a day of my life. You can put like limits on it but I always just go around them, so I thought, right, just delete it off my phone. For the first week or so, I was a little bit, like, wanting that stimulation and stuff, but since then it's just really refreshing to not have any of that.
"There's things that I've missed out on. I have to check scorecards on ESPNcricinfo now, because I don't see highlight reels coming up! I guess more of an old-fashioned way of doing it. There's a lot of stuff [on social media] that doesn't mean anything, and you know, I'm really lucky, I've got a great family, I've got great friends, I've got great team-mates, and I guess trying to be a bit more present with them has been really cool."
She jokes it might also pay dividends with her cricket: "Next time I get bored when I'm bowling in a 50-over game, hopefully I'll have less of an urge to do something strange and actually just keep running in and hitting the top of the stumps. That's probably going to help me out."
Fortunately Wong has plenty of things other than Instagram to keep her occupied, not least preparing for a first World Cup having, in her words, "missed out on a few". She was a travelling reserve for the 2023 T20 version in South Africa, but subsequently lost her rhythm to the extent that England did not pick her for over a year. The 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 ODI World Cup both passed her by.
She credits the "really good, consistent work" done with Chris Liddle, the former Sussex and Gloucestershire pace bowler, since he joined England Women's performance programme in late 2023, when Wong was out of the first-team set-up. "We worked really closely together then, [and] got me back to feeling like the bowler that I knew that I was," she says.
Wong is far from the first young fast bowler to have to retrace their steps, evaluate their methods and attempt to come back stronger. She is certainly back wiser. Where pace was the primary concern - Wong once spoke about breaking the 80mph barrier - she is now more focused on applying her skills to the situation.
"Some days you're going to play under lights and the ball's going to be zipping through, and the best way I can do a job for my team is to run in hard and try and crank it up a bit. And there's other days where actually it might be a little bit slower and it's going to maybe take something else.
"Me and Lids [Liddle] have spoken about reading the situation as best I can, then making the most educated decision about what's going to be effective on that. I like to think I'm pretty versatile, so yeah, it's just that decision-making of: Actually, what does the situation need from me here? What do my team-mates need from me here? And how well can I do that?"
An example of Wong's improved bouncebackability came during the T20I against India in Chelmsford - scene of her one wayward England appearance of 2023, when she visibly struggled with her run-up.
This time around, after a horror start that saw her concede 27 runs from her opening over, she returned undaunted later in the innings to remove India's dangerous finisher Bharti Fulmali with a guileful slower ball. In between, there was a brilliant running catch over her shoulder to give Tilly Corteen-Coleman a wicket on debut, a moment joyfully celebrated with her young team-mate.
Wong has now played in eight of England's 14 T20Is since Charlotte Edwards was appointed head coach last year, quietly acclimatising back at the highest level after the rapid rise of 2022, when she was capped in all three formats and quickly became one of the faces of the women's game.
Away from cricket, she plays the guitar and has been reading a book about Jurgen Klopp, former manager of her beloved football club, Liverpool - although she baulks at the idea that Edwards could take much from his famous approach to football. "Heavy-metal cricket, yeah, that's the sort of the biggest oxymoron going, isn't it?"
She's aware, though, of the parallels between an inspirational sporting figure connecting with the fan base and England's hopes of igniting public interest in their T20 World Cup campaign this summer, in much the same way the women's national teams in football and rugby have done in recent years.
"It's not lost on us, the opportunity that we've got," she says. "Home World Cups don't come around that often, and obviously we've seen the Lionesses, we've seen the Red Roses, and the impact that that's had on the public and the public view of women's sport and each bringing their own sport into the limelight.
"I think that opportunity is obvious and probably doesn't need to be spoken about. We know that international cricket is about winning games of cricket, so I think the more that we focus on that, the other stuff can sort itself out.
"Hopefully our performances on the pitch can change the mood of a couple of people round the UK this summer."
If anyone in the England squad can help capture that mood, it's the ebullient Wong. And while a potential World Cup debut awaits, for now she is just happy to be along for the ride.
"We've got 15 players here, and I've got absolutely no doubt that every one of the other 14 is an unbelievably good cricketer. Whatever my role looks like in the next four or five weeks, I'll grab that with both hands, and whatever that job is, putting the love and the passion I've got for cricket into it, and trying to do the best job I can."