Cricket: England women win Twenty20 series against West Indies

England Women, featuring Heywood’s Kate Cross and Rochdale-born Heather Knight, have won the International Twenty20 series 1-0 against the West Indies Women after two of their matches were abandoned due to rain.

Both the opening and closing match of the series were washouts on 18 and 25 June, with England winning by 42 runs on Friday 21 June. England posted 180-6 from their 20 overs to the West Indies 138-9.

The victory follows a whitewash of the One Day International series against the West Indies side earlier this month.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/4/sport-news/128443/cricket-england-women-look-to-complete-odi-whitewash

Captain Heather Knight was due to sit out the final match in Derby on Tuesday (25 June) because of a sore hamstring, but will be fit to play in the Ashes opener on 2 July.

Knight, 28, began playing cricket in boys’ and men’s teams when she was eight after moving to Plymouth.

A talented right-handed batswoman, she played for Plymstock Cricket Club and at county level for Devon.

She was part of the England squad which reclaimed the Ashes against Australia in 2013 and helped retain them in 2014.

Knight received an OBE on the 2018 New Year’s honour list and was named among Wisden Almanack’s Five Cricketers of the Year for 2017 after she led the women’s team to a triumphant World Cup victory last summer.

Cross, 27, also began playing cricket at the age of eight, rising to international level after being the first female to be accepted into the Lancashire County Cricket Club academy.

She was recently named as the new captain of Lancashire Thunder for the 2019 Kia Super League season.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/4/sport-news/128385/cricket-kate-cross-appointed-lancashire-thunder-captain

In 2015, Cross became the first woman to play in the Central Lancashire League in its 123-year history. Cross made her Lancashire debut at the age of just 13 and became the first girl to be accepted into the Lancashire Academy at 15.

She won her first England cap in 2013 and has played for Thunder in every edition of the Women's Cricket Super League – Cross has also enjoyed two spells at the Women’s Big Bash League with Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers.

England Women will next play Australia A Women in a one-day tour match at Loughborough on 29 June before the Ashes commence on Tuesday 2 July.