There can be few players, if any, who can claim to have won an Ashes series before they have even made a first-team debut for their childhood club.
England Women’s seamer Kate Cross might just have created such a select group when she made her history-making debut for Heywood in the Central Lancashire League at the weekend.
Cross became the first female player to play in a top division in Lancashire and while it was a far cry from her first Ashes appearance – at the WACA Ground in Perth last January – the 23-year-old was no less nervous as she turned out for a club that has been like a second home for her as she grew up.
“I reckon I was more nervous than I was before my England debut,” she told ecb.co.uk.
“Everyone that I’ve ever known or grown up with was watching at the weekend and I didn’t know what to expect. I was really nervous.
“I’ve grown up at Heywood so there was quite a lot of expectation. I’ve got the Ashes thing under my belt and played for England so people sort of expect you to do well.”
With friends and family watching, and the usual healthy Heywood support, Cross more than proved herself as she claimed 3-19 in an eight-wicket win at Clifton.
In doing so she ensured her place in the storied folklore of the club, which has been graced by the stardust talents of Andy Flower, Curtly Ambrose and more recently Brendan Taylor, who was selected for the Team of the Tournament at the recent World Cup.
Unlike those names Cross is a home-grown international talent for the supporters to pin their pride on and, after drawing more media attention to Heywood than those great names before her, was just pleased to get through the game with reputation intact.
“I was pleased that I was able to hold my own and not make an absolute fool out of myself,” she admitted.
“There has been a lot of media around it and I didn’t want to let anyone down.
“The media since has surprised me - I guess there would have been more media if I had done badly.
“Everything has been positive and sometimes with stories like this that’s not always the case. Everything I’ve got on Twitter too has been positive. It has been really nice.”
Cross’ appearance in the men’s game is hardly a media gimmick, however, as she looks to challenge herself ahead of this summer’s Women’s Ashes defence.
One for the Cross family photo album. My brother dropping a catch off my bowling today. Pictures paint 1000 words! pic.twitter.com/98SghMG5A6
— Kate Cross (@katecross16) April 19, 2015
She will continue to play for Heywood in the lead up to the Ashes, which begin in July, and hopes the experience of playing against men will equip her with new skills to take back to the highest stage in international women's cricket.
“The thing that is different with men’s and women’s cricket was the margin for error as a bowler is so much smaller in men’s cricket,” she said.
“If a bloke wants to hit you for six over cow corner in men’s cricket, no matter where you bowl it, he can hit you for six over cow corner.
“That was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to play men’s cricket because I wanted to challenge myself in the middle.
“You can challenge yourself as such as you want in the nets but I wanted the middle time.”
During the winter Cross has spent many an hour bowling at her brother, and former Lancashire second XI batsman Bobby, in the nets at Emirates Old Trafford as she prepared for the winter tour of New Zealand and then the summer ahead.
Bobby Cross has been one of the most successful batsmen in the CLL for the past decade and helped steer Heywood to victory on Sunday with 75.
He did, however, endure one red-faced moment when he dropped a catch off his sister at mid-off.
“It’s funny because he normally fields at slip and, when it looked like I might play for the first-team before the season, I said how good would it be if we got a caught Cross bowled Cross,” she said.
“He said don’t worry, just bowl it in the right areas and I’ll catch them for you! He’s been quite harsh on himself since, it was a hard catch.
“I’m sure over the season he’ll catch some absolute blinders for me. I’m sure he will make up for it. He’s got to be the safest hands in the Central Lancs League.”
Cross did not have to rely on any of her team-mates for her opening wicket as she bowled Clifton number six Joe Brown.
“I didn’t actually see it because when I bowl I have my head down and by the time I lift it that’s happened,” she said.
“The umpires said it pitched on middle and nibbled. He played a bit around it.”
Two more wickets arrived during her seven overs but Cross laughed off suggestions that she might have been enthused enough at that point to start any banter with the batsmen.
Huge congrats to @katecross16 on her CLL debut for @HeywoodCC. Look forward to hearing all about it today and "the drop catch"@rjcross7 ?
— Charlotte Edwards (@Lottie2323) April 21, 2015
“No. Not in my first game,” she said.
“I wanted to find my feet. One guy did play a horrid shot to me and I did tell him that it was a bit of a dirty shot, but he agreed with me so it was okay.”
For now Cross is concentrating on continuing to earn her place in the Heywood first team while be wary of the fact she does not want to suffer burn-out before the big prize of the Ashes.
“The Ashes is obviously quite a big thing and I want to get selected for that,” she added.
“I don’t want to be knackered going into that. I spoke to our captain and said I’m going to have to make sure we’re talking about how I’m feeling.
“He was absolutely brilliant. He said he understood and told me to make sure we all keep talking.
“Heywood want to make sure I do the right thing for myself and I want to do the right thing for Heywood.”