Beach Cricket, Backyard Cricket, and Beyond: Kate Cross’ Quest for the T20 World Cup
Beach cricket, backyard cricket, club cricket, Blind cricket, fantasy club cricket – England seamer Kate Cross hasn’t given up hope of earning a spot in the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. The experienced bowler sees the upcoming Hundred tournament as her chance to impress head coach Jon Lewis and clinch a place on the team.
On Sunday, Cross returned to England’s ODI side, helping the team secure an emphatic eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in Worcester. After missing the series opener due to an abdominal strain, the senior seam bowler remains focused on her role in the 50-over format, but is also eyeing the T20 World Cup later this year.
“Lewy’s said, ‘never say never,’ with T20 cricket, he’s said he’s definitely not ruled me out for future series or games,” Cross said ahead of the final ODI in Bristol on Wednesday. “But I can just control what I can control and I know I’ve got the Hundred coming up where I’ll be able to open the bowling and try and finish games off for the Superchargers. So for me, that’s my opportunity to showcase to him what I can do and if that’s good enough, it’s good enough, and if it’s not, then I’ll obviously support the girls from quite a distance as I won’t be in Bangladesh.”
Cross hasn’t featured in a T20I since December 2019, and her last wicket in the format came during the Women’s Ashes almost six months prior to that. With 11 wickets from 16 matches at an average of 33.72 and an economy rate of 7.22, the experienced seamer is determined to prove her worth and secure a spot in the team for the T20 World Cup.
While the focus may be on the upcoming T20 tournament, Cross acknowledged the importance of evolving the team’s 50-over game as well, with the ODI World Cup in India next year being another significant goal.
“We are probably more focused on the T20 World Cup at the minute, obviously that’s the one more in front of us, but we’re still trying to evolve our 50-over game as well to make sure that we are as well prepared as we possibly can be when it gets to that Ashes series,” she said.
The key for England has been cultivating a “ruthless streak,” something the team has been working on since their recent series against Pakistan.
“We probably had a series against Pakistan a couple of weeks ago where we maybe didn’t play the kind of cricket that we wanted to,” Cross acknowledged. “That was something that we chatted quite thoroughly about and how we wanted to go about this series and that’s probably shown in the cricket that we’ve played.”
As England continue to evolve and grow as a team, the experienced seamer believes the Hundred tournament will provide the perfect platform for her to showcase her skills and stake a claim for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad.
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