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'It's just such a big thing to get my head around' - Cross on being signed by Superchargers

Lancashire and England seamer says it will be "weird" not playing for Manchester Originals

Matt Roller
Matt Roller
25-Mar-2023
Northern Superchargers used their first pick to sign Kate Cross for £31,250 in the Hundred's draft  •  AFP/Getty Images

Northern Superchargers used their first pick to sign Kate Cross for £31,250 in the Hundred's draft  •  AFP/Getty Images

Kate Cross, the England seamer, has revealed her shock at being signed by Northern Superchargers in Thursday's Hundred draft, having captained Manchester Originals in the competition's first two seasons.
Cross had spoken to the Originals ahead of the draft, who gave her a verbal guarantee that they would sign her for £25,000 with their second pick if she was still available. But the Superchargers gazumped them by using their first pick to sign her for £31,250.
Since the Originals had already used their first pick to sign South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt, they were unable to use their Right-To-Match (RTM) card to bring Cross back - much to her surprise, as she watched on from her regional team Thunder's pre-season tour to Mumbai.
"I didn't look at the money at all," Cross said on No Balls, her BBC podcast with Alex Hartley. "I wasn't bothered about that. But I knew I wasn't playing for Manchester, and I'd been picked up by their rivals, the Superchargers, who are based in Yorkshire. For a Lancashire girl, it's quite a big move…"
Cross has spent her whole career playing for Lancashire or teams affiliated with them, like Thunder and the Originals. "It's just such a big thing to get my head around, the fact that I won't be playing in the environment that I've grown up playing in," she said. "For a long time, all my cricket has been in one environment, one club, one place.
"And then I'm just over the Pennines! It's going to be weird playing against Manchester; it's going to be so weird not playing for Manchester."
"To watch yourself literally get sold live on TV, and for a price that someone values you at… I can't even describe that feeling."
Cross on the women's Hundred draft being broadcast publicly
Thursday's draft was the first time that a recruitment process in the women's Hundred has been broadcast publicly, and Cross said it had been difficult to deal with hearing about a surprise move at the same time as the rest of the world.
"It's so strange to find out information at the same time as everyone else," she said. "Whenever we normally get this information, we find out two weeks before it goes out to the public: selections, all that kind of stuff.
"It comes out in public and you've dealt with it, you've processed it, whereas we found out when everyone else found out, which is the thing I'm struggling with the most.
"To watch yourself literally get sold live on TV, and for a price that someone values you at… I can't even describe that feeling."
Each women's team in the Hundred has eight confirmed players after Thursday's draft. They will now fill their squads over the coming months, with their remaining contracts agreed mutually on the open market.

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98