There cannot be many more open cricketers than Kate Cross.Part of that is the nature of being a high-profile women's cricketer. So much of the game's future is over-reliant on your personality, time and accessibility to cover for decades of under-investment. Media requests are accepted as they come in. Not a selfie or autograph is denied. No stakeholder left behind. Cross is one of the best at it.She co-hosts the No Balls Podcast with good mate and former England cricketer Alex Hartley. In between the insightful cricket chat, they either talk borderline nonsense - as we all do with our best mates - or have deep and productive conversations about mental health, which we probably don't do enough.Cross has long been open about matters of this nature. She's never afraid to reopen scars to show us all these anxieties. Only so much of that can be cathartic, but Cross always does so to inform better and show others their struggle is not and should not be alone.In the last few months, she revealed that a tropical virus contracted during a pre-season tour of India in March had left her in doubt for this Ashes series, which could be her last on home soil given she will be 35 in four years, and other younger quicks are already nipping at her heels. But then, on Thursday, in just her second appearance in the multi-format series, she stepped across to the off side to show the world - and most importantly Megan Schutt - her stumps.England needed nine runs to win this first of three ODIs, not just to square series 6-6 but to prevent Australia from retaining the Ashes there and then. Again. Cross had walked in at No.10 with 29 runs remaining, joining her skipper, Heather Knight, who was beginning to wonder if a fifth successive Ashes was slipping away.
And as Schutt delivered one of her patented inswingers and Cross stepped across, there was a moment when the 5,731 crowd at Bristol County Ground fell silent. The majority supporting England feared the worst. A moment later, that silence was broken. Even Australian legend Mel Jones on commentary, who has seen more than most, was in awe. "What has just happened?"Well, the scoop shot happened. Away the ball went, over the keeper's head and, eventually, for four. Cross crashed a drive through the covers two balls later to draw England level with Australia's 263. Knight had the honour of finishing the match at the start of the next over, cutting the winning boundary through point to take her to a remarkable 75 not out, and immediately flinging her bat away to embrace the player whom she regarded as the hero of the hour."She loves it, she absolutely loves it!" Alice Capsey said afterwards, buoyed as much by Cross's outlandish shot selection under pressure as by her own 40 from 34 balls that had jump-started the pursuit of a target of 264. As Hartley put it: "Death, taxes, and Crossy playing the paddle."
Cross herself will be the first to tell you it is her favourite shot, and her team-mates will be queuing a close second to inform you no-one does it better. "She plays it probably the best in the group," Capsey added. "If you don't see a ramp, you're probably asking [Cross] 'are you okay?'"
Truth be told, Cross was not okay when she walked to the crease, and, typically, had no qualms stating as much. She told BBC Sport her internal dialogue was full of fear of adding to past regrets: "I do not want to lose another Ashes. I have seen us lose too many Ashes."This had by no means been her best performance. Opening the bowling after being left out of the T20Is, she was struck for two boundaries off her first three deliveries of the match by Alyssa Healy, the second a full toss whipped through midwicket. Though she would snare Healy lbw with the fourth, she went on to have Ellyse Perry dropped on six before dropping a catch of her own to give Beth Mooney a life on 19. Both cashed in with 41 and 81 not out, respectively.Cross's figures of one for 42 from six overs were comfortably the worst of her team. And she owed thanks to Capsey and Tammy Beaumont for a 74-run stand in 9.1 overs that gave Australia's quicks - Darcie Brown, Perry, Annabel Sutherland and Tahlia McGrath - even worse economy-rates. But as she walked to the middle, you could understand why Cross was apprehensive. Her upcoming struggle was to be endured publicly.Her captain - her friend - knew what needed to be said. A fundamental tenet of England's build-up to this series, dialled up to instigate the fightback from 6-0 down, has been to strip this Australian team of their aura. Knight reiterated that: think of Ash Garnder as an off-spinner, Jess Jonassen as merely left-arm orthodox and even Schutt, with all her craft and Australian mongrel, as just another inswinger. No matter who is sending it down, swing if it's there to be swung at.Having stolen the strike for the 45th over, Cross played out two dots from Jonassen before pouncing on a loose ball to turn it around the corner for four. When Jonassen corrected her line and length with the next delivery, Cross slapped an on-drive for another four. At the time, it seemed like the best shot she'd play.
Given the strike a ball into the next over, Cross immediately found a single into the leg side and watched on from the non-striker's end as Knight dropped to one knee and treated Gardner like just another off-spinner by depositing her over the midwicket fence for six. Two overs later, when Schutt was brought back to do what Schutt does, Knight saw fine leg up in the circle and had an idea. "Paddle's on."It was. Out Cross stepped to the off side, up the scoop went over Healy's head. Cross assumed she was close to being caught by the keeper, and confirmed to the rest of us the contact was not her usual best when she scampered back for the second. Brown had seemingly stopped the ball at the boundary, only to palm it into the advertising sponge. Though Cross would tie the scores two balls later, the audacity of the scoop was a statement in itself that only one team was winning this.
She almost finished it herself, thumping a drive down the ground but straight at Schutt, who could only deflect the ball away. No matter - Knight finished the job at the start of the next over. With two matches to play, England's first women's Ashes victory in almost a decade is very much back on the agenda.The finish in the third men's Ashes Test at Headingley and this first ODI here in the women's has led to familiar soundbites. Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and now Cross have all spoken of the fact that, while they are not used to being there at the end, and would certainly prefer not to be, being out in the middle at least gives you a say. Even if you want no part in a chase, to be at the crease is to be in control, which in a sport open to chaos, is a blessing.It can also be a curse. You are never more exposed than when you're out there, particularly indulging in your weaker suit. All those hopes on unfamiliar shoulders, all those past failures just a wrong turn in your mind away from consuming you.Cross, however, had left those thoughts on the other side of the boundary, bringing instead the courage to do right by Knight at the other end, her team-mates watching on from the dressing room, and her country. A familiar strength emanating from vulnerability. And, of course, her scoop shot.That she walked off to all those cheers before indulging in more media and more selfies and autographs - an emergency No Balls podcast in the works - carried a unique feeling. Given how forthcoming she has been with her darkest moments, it was only right so many were able to share in arguably her brightest.