But that was not the entire story of a contest that found itself sandwiched between two overpowering narratives. On the one hand, there was England’s hangover from their thumping defeat to Australia in Sunday’s T20 World Cup final, on this same ground. On the other, there was the daunting weight of history attached to an overdue Test match at such a storied venue.

“It was a really special day to be a part of,” Wong said. “Having all the ex-players there for the anthems … Amy Jones turned to me and said, ‘Oh, I’m getting a bit emotional actually’ when they were ringing the bell. It’s because of them that we’re in the position to have such special days like today, and then hopefully the next three days coming.

“It’s not lost on us at all,” she added. “It’s our duty to really appreciate it, but to also make sure that it happens again, because it absolutely should happen again. The passion in that group of players for Test cricket is really strong, and it’s something that I feel like they’ve passed on to us.

“We want to pack the schedule with more and more Tests in the future. This is not a one-off occasion. Hopefully our names as a playing XI will be lost because there’ll be playing XIs after us that do much, much greater things. So as long as it’s a starting point, then it’s really exciting.”

Wong and Filer were both part of the T20 World Cup squad but neither played a part in England’s unbeaten run to the final. Instead, with coach Charlotte Edwards leaning into a settled white-ball attack, they found their focus drawn inexorably towards this separate date with destiny.

“Particularly me and Lauren Filer, we’ve felt like we’ve been building towards this match for a while,” Wong said. “There were only four red balls in the coaching bag, because we kept nicking them to bowl with. But any chance you get to use the red ball is really, just … it’s a joy to bowl with, to be honest.”

Wong’s only Test cap to date had come against South Africa in Taunton in 2022, when she had been the 20-year-old rising star of England’s set-up, and long before the high-profile setbacks that would disrupt her career in the intervening years. Though there have been just four women’s Tests since that debut, she felt sufficiently out of the picture for a crucial part of her kit to be out of mind.

“My dad has been looking after my Test cap,” she said. “We didn’t go home in between the World Cup and this, so he brought it to the World Cup final. But, I’ve looked after mine a bit better than Heather Knight. She had a bit of mould on the inside of hers that she had to scrape out.”

There was no such time for any festering between Lord’s appearances, however.

“It’s been brilliant to see everybody that’s gone before us on the pitch with us. It felt like they were there out with us, and it’s been brilliant to see the the reaction Tammy’s had to her retirement, because she’s had an outstanding career and she’s been a pleasure to share a dressing-room with.

“But it’s not in any way detracted from the excitement I’ve had to actually play the game.
It’s almost been like an added bonus. It just feels like it’s been a hell of a week, to be honest.”

Wong acknowledged that the short turnaround had been “really tough” on the players who featured in that seven-wicket loss to Australia on Sunday. But, she said, it was still hard to detract from the sense that they’d been in the midst of a very special week for women’s cricket.

“Both days I walked into Lord’s and thought ‘today is going to be a good day’,” Wong said. “What was striking about the final was how many people were there, and how early were they were there. We got off the bus, and walked all the way, and people were just watching us in, clapping us in, and even going over to the Nursery ground. It felt like that support was really behind us, and I think that that feeling definitely continued into today.

“I love the the hum of people, and then things happen, and they get excited, and that gets you excited. You think, okay, ‘we’ve done something here, we’re doing something here … keep going’. Yeah, it’s the best format, and this is a great ground to to do it on.”