England Next Gen: Ryana MacDonald-Gay on her rise and balancing cricket and hockey

Ryana MacDonald-Gay is backmost with Oval Invincibles for the 2023 Hundred, having taken 5 wickets successful 40 balls successful 2022's trophy-winning campaign

Throughout the Hundred, BBC Sport is moving a diagnostic bid called England Next Gen, designed to look astatine players who whitethorn marque the measurement up to planetary cricket successful the adjacent fewer years. Next up is Oval Invincibles and South East Stars bowler Ryana MacDonald-Gay.

"And past she runs retired of the room!" MacDonald-Gay laughs arsenic she recounts the tale.

The 'JB' successful question was Jonathan Batty, Oval Invincibles caput coach. MacDonald-Gay had precocious turned 18, but Batty was exercising caution by going done her parents first. The news? That MacDonald-Gay was a wildcard enactment for that summer's Hundred.

Seconds aboriginal her ain telephone began vibrating. "It was specified an unthinkable feeling to get that telephone and beryllium told 'we privation you'," MacDonald-Gay says.

"You don't realise radical are really watching until they accidental 'we are watching'. It's truly bully to cognize that each the hard enactment you enactment successful elsewhere is noticed."

That, though, was conscionable the start. Whereas MacDonald-Gay expected to walk the period shuttling liquid refreshments around, she alternatively made her debut against Northern Superchargers astatine a packed Kia Oval connected opening night.

"I was virtually shaking," she says. "I'd ne'er played successful beforehand of much than 500 radical before, fto unsocial thousands. It was insane."

Having calmed her nerves by "talking - it virtually could beryllium astir anything, a random speech - it is conscionable distraction", she claimed the wickets of India's Jemimah Rodrigues and South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt.

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By September MacDonald-Gay could telephone herself an ever-present tourney winner. Surely 2022 had peaked.

Except that the pursuing morning, MacDonald-Gay was woken aboriginal by a telephone call. An England Select XI were owed to instrumentality connected India successful Durham aboriginal that week - did she privation in?

Naturally, she was keen, hastily arranging northbound question with South East Stars team-mates Alice Davidson-Richards and Alexa Stonehouse. Rain yet forced the fixture's abandonment but not earlier MacDonald-Gay returned singular figures of 6-18 from 3.5 overs.

Enter her parent and her mobile again. "She rang erstwhile we came disconnected the transportation and said 'Oh my god, you got a hat-trick.' I replied 'No I didn't, Mum. What are you talking about?'"

But unbeknown to everyone connected the field, MacDonald-Gay had so picked up the last 3 India wickets with successive balls. It was her archetypal hat-trick successful elder cricket.

"Usually, I ever find a mode to vessel the 3rd one," she says, referencing T20 Finals Day with Kent a fewer months antecedently erstwhile she had doubly been 1 transportation from the landmark.

That show cemented MacDonald-Gay's enactment successful England Under-19s' 2023 World Cup squad. Despite defeat by India successful the final, MacDonald-Gay describes the travel arsenic an "incredible" experience.

She was vice-captain, with Grace Scrivens starring the team. That pair, positive Stonehouse, had appeared successful a region last for Kent U13s successful 2017. Five and a fractional years aboriginal and they were competing for satellite honours.

Ryana MacDonald-Gay took 4 wickets astatine an mean of 8.50 and scored 72 runs astatine an mean of 24 successful the Under-19s Women's T20 World Cup earlier successful 2023

Perhaps it was not excessively overmuch of a surprise, though. MacDonald-Gay's way was lone ever going to beryllium sports-based. She played everything and thing from an aboriginal age.

"I adjacent played immoderate rogue ones, similar korfball - I played that to rather a precocious level arsenic well. Slowly, I started knocking things off, narrowing successful connected hockey and cricket."

She inactive plays hockey, having made the England under-18 broadside arsenic a schoolgirl. Cricketing commitments meant she was incapable to spell connected proceedings for the U21s past winter, but she inactive plays erstwhile clip allows.

"The equilibrium is tricky - it tin beryllium a lot," she admits. "But I emotion some sports equally. And they are truthful different, truthful erstwhile radical accidental 'you request a break', I crook to the different sport.

"Even if it is not physically a break, it's a intelligence interruption from 1 sport. Hockey is specified a antithetic crippled to cricket - it's played astatine pace, it's intense. It's a spot of a rush, a spot of adrenaline."

MacDonald-Gay's formative cricketing experiences came alongside her brothers, betwixt whom she is sandwiched successful age. She archetypal represented Kent astatine under-11 level nether manager David Sear:

"David was truthful passionate astir cricket," she says. "If helium hadn't been similar that, a batch of radical would person dropped retired there. But helium made radical privation to transportation connected and support getting better."

Sear helped England internationals Tammy Beaumont, Lydia Greenway and Charlotte Edwards forge their careers, and MacDonald-Gay recalls fondly providing guards of honour for, and receiving her inferior caps from, the second pair.

Soon she began pursuing successful their steps, spending 2021 successful Stars' academy earlier signing nonrecreational presumption aboriginal that summer. Now a regular successful determination cricket, MacDonald-Gay's trajectory is steep.

While the Invincibles utilized her successful the mediate of the innings past year, she took the caller shot for England A against their Australia counterparts successful June, but 5 of her six wickets successful the 3 one-day internationals came successful the last 10 overs of the innings.

That has fixed MacDonald-Gay the assurance to execute a assortment of roles astatine determination level, and she ended the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy - the home 50-over contention - with 9 victims for Stars.

Her coaches talk highly of a three-dimensional cricketer, 1 who is susceptible of opening the batting and is lightning accelerated erstwhile patrolling the boundary.

Full planetary honours volition apt necessitate a small much patience, but MacDonald-Gay is acold from the benignant to get up of herself.

After the Hundred she returns for the 2nd twelvemonth of her sports science grade astatine Loughborough University. In September she volition beryllium the exams she was excused for portion connected World Cup duty.

Revision - the large leveller.