Gareth Cross

Full Name	Gareth Cross
Nickname	Crossy
DoB	20th June 1984
Height	5' 9
Bats/Bowls	Right hand/Wicket-keeper
Shirt Number	16
Lancashire	Debut 2005
Tests	0
ODI	0

Profile

There won't be many wicketkeepers in English cricket who can boast both Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan as practice partners Gareth Cross can.

Another graduate from Lancashire's youth set-up, Cross, who is an aggressive batsman and tidy gloveman, kept to Murali in the Old Trafford nets when the mercurial Sri Lankan was part of the Lancashire staff as well as keeping to Warney while playing club cricket for St Kilda in Australia.

"I kept to Muzza (Murali) when he was here at Old Trafford, and with the red ball in his hand it is probably the hardest I have ever had to work," explained the Bury born youngster.

"I didn't actually play in the same side as him (Warne), but we had a few net sessions together - one out in the middle when he came back from his ban. It can only be good for my development because I have now kept against the best two spinners in the world. Once you have done that, you should be OK with most spinners."

Gareth joined the staff full-time in 2005 and didn't have to wait long for his County Championship debut. When Warren Hegg's career was prematurely ended with a broken thumb at Essex, at the end of the same season, Cross hot footed it down to Chelmsford to help Lancs to a promotion clinching win.

Again, in 2006, Cross benefited from another broken thumb. This time it was Luke Sutton against Middlesex at Lord's, and a longer run in the side came his way. Not only did he excel behind the stumps, but he also made an impact with the willow hitting a couple of lusty half centuries against Kent and Sussex. Just ask Pakistani leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed what the former Clifton man is like to bowl to. He was dispatched for 24 in one over - Two sixes and three fours went to and over the fence.

Nothing came his way in the form of four-day cricket during 2007, but that didn’t mean we weren’t excited by some more lusty hitting in the one-day arena. In fact, two of his most impressive performances came against Warwickshire in the Twenty20 Cup Quarter Final - and then the Pro40 League game. He set Lancs up with a blazing 62 off 35 balls in the Twenty20 game - and then battered 76 off 69 balls opening the batting in the Pro40.

2008 wasn’t quite as productive for Cross, who didn’t play a Championship game, and failed to make the same type of impact in the one-day arena.

Crossy also bowls medium pace and in a rare outing chipped in with 2-26 from six overs bowling Ben Harmison and Gareth Breese when Lancashire's bowling attack suffered several injuries during the FPT match against Durham.

The now 25 year-old returned to St Kilda in the Victorian Premier League as preparation for the 2009 summer, and came back with the prestigious Jack Ryder Medal under his belt for the player of the year.

He hit 541 runs at an average of 41, including a ton, and followed in the footsteps of England batsman Paul Collingwood, who won the award in 2001/2.

But the 2009 English summer was pretty similar to 2008. He didn’t play a Championship match all season, and failed to score the big runs in Twenty20 and Pro40 that were expected, although his glove-work was tidy in both formats.

He did, however, impress as he co-captained the second team, alongside Adrian Shankar, to both the Championship and Trophy finals.

Graham Hardcastle
(c) Lancashire County Cricket Club Ltd
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