Player Profile
Wicket-taker and history-maker, seamer Kate Cross continues to makes waves for both Lancashire Thunder and England.
Cross has captained both teams, and the latter brings us to one of her career highlights. In September 2024, she was appointed as England’s captain for a senior white ball tour of Ireland - an honour which will live long in her memory.
That came as part of a mixed few months for Cross, who missed the Women’s Ashes in Australia at the start of 2025 through injury. She was part of the squad but was unable to make it onto the field because of a back problem sustained whilst touring South Africa late last year.
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 98 occasions across all formats since debuting in October 2013, with the promise of plenty more to follow.
In fact, not only is she two appearances short of 100 across all formats, she is also only two away from 100 wickets in ODI cricket. She would be the eighth player to achieve that feat for England Women.
Now aged 33, she made her senior county debut for Lancashire at the age of 13 in 2005.
She was part of the Red Rose 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.
She bettered that return against Ireland in Belfast in September 2024, returning 6-30 in a 50-over. Captain Fantastic, hey! That six-for is her best haul across all formats for England.
Around her international commitments, she has been a key part of the Lancashire’s drive for 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, most recently, Thunder in regional cricket.
In 2024, Cross went beyond 400 career wickets in all first-class, List A and T20 cricket and was ranked by the ICC as the second best ODI bowler in the world.
In the 2023, Cross 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.
Less than a fortnight before that aforementioned six-wicket haul against Ireland in early September 2024, she claimed 6-40 for Thunder in a Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy win over South East Stars at Beckenham, her best return across the five-year regional era.
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.