Kate is hoping for a pig break
ENGLAND BOWLER READY FOR CHANGE IN FORTUNE
FORTY years after her father won the FA Cup for West Ham clutching a pig charm in his fist for 90 minutes at Wembley, England cricketer Kate Cross hopes its luck will rub off on her at the women’s World Cup.
In 1980, Hammers physio Rob Jenkins noticed that every time they saw a pig on the coach journey to an away game, striker David Cross would score.
Jenkins bought Cross a miniature silver pig as a good-luck trinket, and he held it throughout the 1-0 win against Arsenal in the final – the last time West Ham lifted a major trophy.
The charm, right, was handed down to Cross’s daughter and it inspired her on her rise to prominence as an Ashes winner in 2014 when she made her England Test debut.
It has not all been plain sailing however. After the first three years of her international career, Cross needed a break to address anxiety.
And last winter, she ruptured ankle ligaments after landing on a boundary rope attempting a catch during a T20 World Cup warm-up in Sydney.
Cross, 28, who now has next year’s World Cup in New Zealand in her sights, told the Soccer Fellas podcast: “The lucky pig has been handed down but it’s not always as lucky as we make it out to be. My brother gave it to me when I went on my first England tour and I ran back into the dressing room to look at it just before we went out for my one-day debut. I took four wickets, got the man-ofthe-match and suddenly this pig is the best thing in the world.
“It has become a legend. When I’m bowling, the girls call me ‘Piggy’ for encouragement and I have a necklace with a little pig on it.
“When I was injured, the girls even went out and bought me a bikini with pigs on it.”
Medium-fast bowler Cross admits England have work to do if they are to repeat their World Cup glory of three years ago, when an inspired fightback at Lord’s pipped India by nine runs in the final.
She said: “We’ve gone from the high of the 2017 World Cup but since then we’ve not achieved anything. We had a shambolic Ashes and bowed out of the World T20 in a manner which was very unfair.”