Latest news with #KateCross
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Give England time after Ashes 'scarring'
England need to be given time to rebuild and recover from the Ashes "scarring" at the beginning of the year, says seamer Kate Cross. Cross, 33, was in the Ashes one-day international and Test squads but did not play as she struggled with a back injury, with England eventually losing 16-0 in the points-based series. After strong media criticism surrounding the performances and their attitude, England replaced then-coach Jon Lewis and captain Heather Knight with Charlotte Edwards and Nat Sciver-Brunt respectively, and they comfortably won all six white-ball matches against West Indies in their first series in charge at the beginning of this the team is once again facing scrutiny after a 3-2 T20 series defeat by India and a four-wicket defeat in the first ODI, but Cross says that expectations need to be managed."Nobody is happy with that scoreline, but it feels like so much was learned from it and the conversations that were had," Cross said on the No Balls podcast, which she hosts with former team-mate and now BBC Test Match Special pundit Alex Hartley. "We're not going to win every game of cricket that we play, so maybe it is about adjusting the expectations about what it all looks like at the minute."There's a lot going on and there's a lot of scarring from that Ashes series and we just need some time to get things right." The episode was recorded before the opening ODI but Cross also expanded on comments made during the T20 series by Edwards and stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont, who deputised for the injured Sciver-Brunt, regarding the team being "in transition". Cross said the comments were misinterpreted, and that Beaumont was most likely referring to the new coach, captain and style as opposed to a transition of new players coming through."I'm reading between the lines here because I haven't spoken to Tammy about it, but I think the transition is that we have changed our leadership roles, we've got a new captain, then we had a stand-in captain during the T20s."We're not silly – we know that we should be a better team than we are right now but also, we are still learning. Maybe I'm just asking people to give us a bit more time."We are under scrutiny, we know that. We are an international team. But we are still just working a lot of things out as a 'new' group." These three ODIs are England's last before the 50-over World Cup starts in India at the end of September, though Sciver-Brunt's side will play the hosts and defending champions Australia in two warm-up matches. England's first match of the tournament is on 3 October against South Africa in Bengaluru. Hartley, a World Cup winner in 2017, agreed that expectations need to be tempered regarding England's chances in the tournament considering the recent turnaround in leadership, and that improvement would "not come overnight" after Edwards' appointment. She added that the 2026 T20 World Cup, which is being hosted in England, will be the right time to "expect bigger things" from the group. England's fielding has been subject to criticism throughout the series as a significant area for improvement but Cross added that some of the "narrative" from the press was not fair. "It's always what we have wanted. More media attention means more bums on seats, more ticket sales, more money into the game," Cross said."But it's really difficult to replicate the pressure you're under in a match, to a training session – no matter how hard you try, it will never feel the same as doing it in front of 10,000 people at Old Trafford or wherever."It's just not quite transitioning from training on to the pitch yet but I really don't feel like we are that far away from it looking a whole lot better. "The narrative is that we have to be perfect. No cricket team out there is ever going to have the perfect game, even when Australia are playing at their best they still fumble or bowl bad balls. It feels a bit like we are suddenly expected to be perfect and that doesn't feel very fair to me."
BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams returns for a third series
The critically acclaimed, Bafta nominated and RTS award winning Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams is back for a third series with sporting legend Freddie Flintoff taking on an even tougher challenge. Determined to prove that his previous success wasn't a one off, having created a cricket team like no other in his hometown of Preston and taken them on a life changing tour to India, he's now set his sights on a much more ambitious plan. Freddie wants to supersize the project right across the North West of England: He'll attempt to form boys teams in Manchester and Liverpool while also attempting to create his first ever girls team in Blackpool at a club without any youth teams. Can he prove his blueprint for a league of dreams can work against a backdrop of a lack of funding, uninspired teens and derelict cricket clubs? Joining Freddie in an extended coaching team is former Lancashire fast bowler Kyle Hogg and new recruit, current England Women's international player Kate Cross. Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning BBC Documentaries says 'Freddie Flintoff has proved himself an exceptional role model. To see his passion for and commitment to cricket shine through and the transformational impact it has had on the lives of the lads from Preston playing on his team has been incredible to witness. I'm so pleased that he is back for another series building on the success of the last one.' Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams was commissioned for BBC One and iPlayer by Clare Sillery, BBC Head of Commissioning, Documentaries. The series is produced by South Shore, and the Executive Producers are Andrew Mackenzie and Naomi Templeton. The BBC Commissioning Editor is Fran Baker. Watch Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams on BBC iPlayer and add to your Watchlist IC Follow for more
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Kate Cross expects results under ‘queen of English cricket' Charlotte Edwards
Kate Cross is hoping 'the queen of English cricket' can take the nation back to the pinnacle of the international game as they step up their World Cup preparations. Charlotte Edwards, who captained England to 50-over and T20 World Cup glory in 2009, replaced Jon Lewis as head coach in April and has just a few months to mould her team before the 2025 edition of the former competition in India and Sri Lanka. Edwards will send her side into the first of three one-day internationals against India in Southampton on Wednesday on the back of 3-2 T20 series defeat by the same opposition, with Cross confident her inspirational former captain can make a significant impact. The Lancashire pace bowler said: 'She is the queen of English cricket, isn't she? 'I spoke in a press conference months ago about how Lottie was the captain that gave me my debut cap, so it's kind of like a full-circle moment for me where one of the best English cricketers to play the game is now leading the team. 'She's so passionate about English cricket and so passionate about women's cricket. She's the biggest badger I know – she's literally watched every ball that you bowl or every ball that you face, she's really on it. She's got about seven laptops, I think, to watch all the Blast games. 'But her knowledge around the game is just phenomenal, so I think we feel really lucky that we've had a coach with that sort of experience, but also with the career that she had in the game, come in to help guide us and make us a better team, so it's been brilliant.' Edwards has work to do as she attempts to restore England's fortunes after a difficult year which has included a 16-0 Ashes whitewash, and she has vowed to make fitness one of the key elements of her regime. However, Cross revealed she has set about her task with a smile on her face. She said: 'She's not just not changed at all. She's still the same Lottie that was my captain eight or nine years ago, so it's been really lovely for me personally to have her around. 'She's just great fun as well. She's always chuckling and making you laugh, which is a really nice place to be in an international dressing room.' On the pitch, Nat Sciver-Brunt's side are still getting to grips with Edwards' philosophy, and Cross insists they need time to do that as they attempt to eradicate the failings which have cost them so dearly in recent times. She said: 'It's difficult. I know we're getting still quite a lot of press around our fielding. It's not where we want it to be and we know there's been some mistakes made in key moments. 'But hopefully if we can be judged in six months', eight months', 12 months' time when the new regime has had a chance to kind of bed in, then hopefully those comments that are made will be… not fairer, because I think the comments that were being made are quite fair at the moment. 'But you'll only then see the changes which will fit with the new regime that Lottie wants to bring in.'
BBC News
05-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
King & Cross lead Lancs to crucial win over Essex
Women's Vitality T20 Blast, Emirates Old TraffordLancashire Thunder 55-2 (6 overs): Lamb 21, Jones 17Essex Eagles 47-7 (8 overs): Winfield-Hill 13; Cross 2-9, King 2-17Lancashire (5 pts) beat Essex (0 pts) by eight wicketsMatch scorecard Ashes rivals Kate Cross and Alana King shared four wickets to set Lancashire Thunder up for a convincing rain-affected T20 Blast win over Essex Eagles at Emirates Old Trafford that kept the hosts' Finals Day hopes seamer Cross and Australia leg-spinner King struck twice apiece in the space of 10 legitimate balls in the sixth and seventh overs of what turned out to be an eight-over Essex innings as they slipped to 38-6 and later totalled 47-7.A two-hour rain delay ravaged a fixture which both sides realistically needed to win to maintain hopes of a top-three finish, and it was Thunder who claimed the crucial five points as they reeled in a revised target of 52 in six overs thanks largely to opener Emma Lamb's 21 off 17 fourth win in nine games - this by eight wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method - means they leapfrog Essex into fifth place but are still 11 points behind third-placed Bears, whom they host on Sunday (13:00 BST), with five games meanwhile, lost for the sixth time in nine games and have a mountain to climb, beginning with Sunday's trip to league leaders Surrey at The Kia Oval (12:00). Thunder, who importantly won the toss and elected to bowl first, made a fast start with the ball either side of the two-hour they reduced Essex to 24-2 after five overs. Seamer Phoebe Graham, making her first competitive appearance of the summer for Thunder, struck in the fourth over when she uprooted the leg-stump of Lissy swing bowler Tara Norris then had the other Essex opener Lauren Winfield-Hill well caught low down at cover by Ailsa Lister. Only four more balls were bowled before play was upon the resumption, with an eight-overs per side game now in motion, Thunder struck four times in the first 10 legitimate balls back to all but end any realistic chance Essex had of had compatriot Maddie Penna well taken low down at square-leg by Lister off a full toss before getting Cordelia Griffith caught behind cutting later in the sixth the seventh, Cross uprooted Jo Gardner's off-stump and had an attacking Eva Gray caught behind. Amara Carr was then run out off the final ball of the innings. Opener Winfield-Hill was the only Essex batter to reach double figures with Jones (17) set Thunder on their way in the chase with an eye-catching straight driven boundary off Esmae MacGregor's seam before dragging Gray to midwicket as Thunder slipped to 29-1 in the Lamb hit three leg-side boundaries before being run out with only four runs required, with King (1no) and Lister (4no) completing the formalities with two overs to supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay
Int'l Cricket Council
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Int'l Cricket Council
England star continues rise in Rankings update
Courtesy of Jones' brilliance, England had an unbeaten run in the ODI series that followed the T20Is against West Indies, which they had won 3-0 as well. The experienced Kate Cross was another protagonist in England's win, and finished with three scalps in the series, including an economical 1/15 in the final ODI. She gains a spot to sit in eighth place in the ICC Women's ODI Bowling Rankings. With the upcoming India tour, Jones and Cross along with other England players have an opportunity to further improve their positions in the Women's Rankings.
