Kate Cross enters the male preserve
Kate Cross, the England seam bowler, has became the first woman to play in the Central Lancashire League - one of the most fiercely traditional leagues in England
The Central Lancashire League has always been one of the most traditional, unchanging cricket leagues in England. The region is fertile UKIP: talk of protecting the old ways of England plays well here.
That made the achievement of Kate Cross, the England seam bowler, all the more meritorious when she became the first woman to play in the league, attracting plaudits from the ECB, which promotes women's cricket with fervour, and even grabbing column inches in the national media. She had quite a day, too, taking 3 for 19 for Heywood as they beat Clifton by eight wickets, and playing alongside her older brother, Bobby, who struck 75 but to his embarrassment dropped a catch off her bowling.
Kate, daughter of a former West Ham striker, David Cross, and the first woman to be admitted to Lancashire's cricket academy at Old Trafford, admitted: "I never thought I would get the chance to play for the first team at Heywood, the club in which I grew up and learnt my cricket. I'm extremely proud to be the first girl to play in our league and I hope we will see many more."
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