Player Profile
Wicket-taker and history-maker, seamer Kate Cross continues to makes waves for both Thunder and England.
Cross learnt her trade at Heywood and has played first-team cricket for the Greater Manchester Cricket League club. She has gone on to represent England on 83 occasions across all formats since debuting in October 2013, with the promise of plenty more to follow.
Now 32, she made her senior county debut for Lancashire at the age of 13 in 2005.
She was part of the Red Rose women’s team which won the historic double in 2017; the One-Day Cup and the Twenty20 Cup.
In 2006, Cross, now a Northern Supercharger in the Hundred, blazed a trail when she was awarded a place on Lancashire’s Academy - the first woman to join.
In early 2014, Cross helped England win the Ashes in Australia - their last success in that series to date. On Test debut, at Perth, she claimed 3-35 in each innings of a victory, including the notable wickets of Alex Blackwell and Meg Lanning.
A few months later, she was handed a central contract by England, amongst the first 18 ever handed out by the England and Wales Cricket Board. She continues to hold one to this day.
Cross has had her difficult moments, at one stage falling out of love with cricket and considering giving up the game altogether.
Watching England win the 2017 World Cup final against India at Lord’s from the stands was a huge motivator for what you could almost now say is the second stage of her career having previously lost her place.
That she was an ever-present in their title defence in New Zealand through the early stages of 2022, which ended in a final defeat to Australia at Christchurch, will have been a hugely proud moment for her and her sports mad family.
Her brother Bobby and sister Jenny are both involved in the game, Bobby as a prolific league batter and administrator and Jenny as a physio.
Her father David is a former professional football striker for the likes of West Ham and Bolton. He won the 1980 FA Cup with the Hammers.
Kate enjoyed a particular impressive 2021 and 2022 and claimed 5-34 in an ODI win over India at Taunton in June 2021.
Six years earlier, she had claimed 5-24 in an ODI win over New Zealand at Lincoln, Christchurch - that remaining her best haul in the international arena.
Around her international commitments, she is a key part of the Thunder’s drive for regional success, not just as an opening bowler but as a lower order batter.
Having progressed through the age-groups, she has gone on to make 121 appearances in county cricket for Lancashire (118 wickets, 1,581 runs). She also represented Lancashire Thunder in the old Kia Super League days and now Thunder in regional cricket.
In early 2024, Cross will reach 350 career wickets in all List A and T20 cricket. At time of writing, she is just one away, and it’s unclear whether that will come in an England shirt, a Thunder shirt or with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
At time of writing, she was in the midst of her maiden Women’s Premier League campaign with the latter in India. After that, she was heading to New Zealand for an ODI series. She would then return to Thunder for the start of the regional summer.
In the 2023, Cross contributed eight wickets in six regional appearances for Thunder, while she reached the final of the Hundred with the Headingley based Superchargers.
She had moved to them following two years with the Manchester Originals, whom she captained. She claimed 10 wickets in as many appearances for the Superchargers as they were beaten in the final by Southern Brave.
In 2023, she claimed a vital seven wickets in four appearances, including a best of 3-48 in the final ODI - a victory, as England drew the multi-format Ashes series on home soil with Australia, 8-8. It was described as one of the greatest ever women’s series.
Cross also co-hosts the BBC No Balls podcast with ex-Thunder team-mate Alex Hartley and is also a regular TV commentator for Sky Sports around her playing commitments.
In September 2023, she was appointed as a non-executive director of the Lancashire Foundation, her aim to help them increase participation in the game.