She has the second-best strike rate for England in WODIs.
After the 2025 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup squad snub, veteran pacer Kate Cross has lost her central contract with England, a decision that left the pacer stunned. Cross revealed on the No Balls podcast that the decision was informed to her on the evening of the Women’s Hundred in August, terming it as the toughest week in her career.
Cross, who played as the vice-captain in the first ODI against India, warmed the bench in the next two matches and was not selected for the upcoming ODI World Cup in India, starting September 30. The news left her stunned as she termed that week the toughest of her career.
“It’s probably been one of the toughest weeks I’ve had in my career, actually,” said Cross on the No Ball podcast. “I started the India series opening the bowling for England as vice-captain, and I finished that series not even making the 13 for the last game in that series. Lottie [England head coach Charlotte Edwards] said to me in a chat before the game that it was a must-win game. As a cricketer who has always prided myself on being a reliable bowler for my captain who would stand up in big moments, that was tough to hear. That felt like a lot of trust had been lost quite quickly.”
The 33-year-old has led England’s pace attack since the retirement of Katherine Sciver-Brunt in 2023. She is among the only eight bowlers to take 100 wickets for England Women’s in ODI cricket. Suffering from a back injury, Cross missed the Ashes 2024-25 series in Australia, where England faced an embarrassing 15-0 defeat for the first time since the multi-format bilateral series was introduced back in 2013. She returned to competitive cricket with West Indies ODIs, followed by the India series, where she was dropped after the first match.
Since Cross has lost her central contract, she has won The Women’s Hundred with Northern Superchargers and played a key role in Lancashire’s One-Day Cup success.
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The Lancashire pacer has represented England in eight Tests, 76 ODIs, and 18 T20Is so far. In her one-year international stint, Cross has picked up 140 scalps. She currently ranks joint seventh in the list of women cricketers with the most wickets for England in ODIs, with only Sophie Ecclestone (32.2) having a better strike-rate than Cross (33.4) in the format. The most standout moment of her career was England’s 2013-14 Women’s Ashes triumph.
Meanwhile, England Women will kick off their Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 journey on October 3 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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