England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt has said that leaving out senior bowler Kate Cross from the Women’s ODI World Cup squad is a tough decision, but the right one.
Backing the selectors’ call, Sciver-Brunt said, “The kind of tough call that reflects a side moving in the right direction.”
Cross, who has played 75 ODIs, was dropped because the selectors went for an extra spinner to suit conditions in India and Sri Lanka, where the World Cup begins on September 30. Earlier, Cross described her omission as “savage” on her No Balls podcast, saying it left her feeling “quite sick.”
Sciver-Brunt admitted the exclusion was painful for her teammate, but pointed out it underlines the strength of the squad. “Being left out is never nice, and for someone who has been a mainstay of our side for a really long time, it probably has another level to it. It’s really tough when these sorts of things happen, but that is where we want to be as an England side — having huge decisions to make every time we select a squad or an XI,” Burnt saidto the PA news agency.
She added, “I think, in a roundabout way, it’s a positive for where we are as a group and a squad. The more that can happen, the better our team will be.”
Sciver-Brunt said she personally sent Cross a message. “Obviously, it was a bit of a shock for her, but she’s had some time to think things through and reset a little bit.”
There is no update yet on whether Cross could be named as standby. England start their campaign on October 3 against South Africa in Guwahati.
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