Kate Cross has announced her retirement from professional cricket. The 34-year-old Lancashire and England seam bowler confirmed on Friday that the 2026 season will be her last, ending a career that spanned 21 years at county level and 12 at international level.
“This summer is going to be my last playing professional cricket. It’s incredibly hard to imagine ever saying goodbye to playing the sport that has been such a huge part of my life and shaped me into the person I am today. But, the final chapter is in sight.”
Kate Cross, Instagram, August 21, 2026
Cross does not hold an England central contract. She was not selected for the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup squad. She will finish the remaining Lancashire county fixtures and then stop.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
Kate Cross announces her retirement from professional cricket and will hang up her boots at the end of the 2026 season. 🏏🏴#England #Retirement #Cricket #Sportskeeda pic.twitter.com/w77klrkPqs
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) August 21, 2026
The retirement closes a 12-month stretch that reshaped Cross’s career entirely. In July 2025, she opened the bowling for England against India as vice-captain. By the end of that series, she could not make the matchday 13.
Head coach Charlotte Edwards and director of cricket Jonathan Finch told Cross in August 2025 that her central contract would not be renewed. She was omitted from the World Cup squad the same month. Within weeks, the player who had been England’s lead seamer since Katherine Sciver-Brunt’s retirement was out of the international setup entirely.
Cross nearly walked away from cricket altogether.
“I didn’t feel ready to finish playing cricket. The only reason that thought entered my mind was because I felt like I wasn’t good enough anymore, and that came from the conversation.”
Kate Cross, Wisden, April 2026
She chose to stay. In February 2026, Cross signed a one-year deal with Lancashire, her first professional domestic contract after 21 years with the club. She was retained by Sunrisers Leeds for the Hundred at a salary of £50,000.
The final season did not go quietly. In the opening match of the 2026 Hundred against MI London, Cross dived to stop a boundary and landed on her left shoulder. Scans confirmed ligament tears in her AC joint. She told Sky Sports the specialist’s prognosis was not good, but she refused to sit out. She played through the tournament and helped Sunrisers Leeds reach the final, where they lost to Trent Rockets by eight wickets on August 16.
Five days later, she announced her retirement.
Kate Cross: The Career
Cross made her senior county debut for Lancashire in 2005 at the age of 13. A year later, she became the first woman accepted into Lancashire’s Academy. In 2015, she became the first woman to play in the 123-year history of the Central Lancashire League, representing Heywood Cricket Club.
Her England debut came in October 2013 against the West Indies. She took 4-51 in her second ODI and won Player of the Match. Three months later, she made her Test debut in Perth during the 2014 Ashes tour, returning match figures of 6-70 as England retained the urn in Australia.
Cross earned 102 caps for England across all three formats and took 140 international wickets. She is one of only eight players to claim 100 ODI wickets for England, reaching the milestone on her 100th appearance during the 2025 West Indies series.
In 2024, she reached a career-high world No. 2 in the ICC ODI bowling rankings and captained England for the first time during the white-ball tour of Ireland. At domestic level, she took 239 wickets for Lancashire across all formats and surpassed 400 career wickets across First-Class, List A, and T20 cricket.
In 2025, she helped Lancashire win the T20 County Cup and the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, and won the Hundred with Northern Superchargers, taking 15 wickets at an average of 14.06.
Her father, David Cross, won the FA Cup with West Ham United in 1980. She co-hosts the “No Balls” podcast with Alex Hartley.
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