Kate Cross Blog: England star looks forward to Women's Cricket Week

The England Women's seamer looks forward to the very first Women's Cricket Week and what is in store...

Every time I sit down to write about what is going on in the women's game, I seem to find myself talking about 'firsts'.  The first set of professional contracts, the first standalone sponsorship deal for England women's cricket, the inaugural Big Bash and Kia Super League this summer, the first time Sky have televised an entire Women's Ashes series, including a Women's Test match for the very first time…

And here I go again, another first: this summer will see the first ever Sky Sports Women's Cricket Week! Everyone around the country will get the opportunity to join us and celebrate the women's game - from the grassroots all the way through to the international arena.

Live Women's International One-Day Cricket

At risk of repeating myself, it's quite refreshing to take a step back from training and have a look at how the game has developed over the past couple of years. As a squad we are probably busier than ever preparing for an exciting 12 months of cricket.

The near future sees us playing a home Royal London ODI & NatWest IT20 series against Pakistan, which will be the first time our new captain, Heather Knight, will lead us out into the arena (another first!). Following that, the back end of our summer sees the launch of the Kia Super League, a brand new six team competition with some of the very best women's cricketers from around the world coming together for a round-robin T20 competition in August.

Our winter then sees us travel to the West Indies in October and then a trip to Sri Lanka in November. Lots of cricket and plenty to look forward to. All of this is evidence of just how far the women's game has come - overseas tours used to be few and far between - now we regularly have three or four on the bounce. 

The Sri Lanka tour will involve our final matches in the ICC Women's Championship, which ultimately decides qualification for the ICC Women's World Cup next summer, which by the way, is on home turf. Something else to put in the diary and look forward to. So, as you can see, we have a lot to celebrate during Sky Sports Women's Cricket Week!

Girl Power

It's absolutely incredible that Sky Sports will be dedicating an entire week to promoting women's cricket, and hopefully we can inspire women and girls across the country to pick up a bat or ball and give cricket a go. There will be a lot going on around the country and plenty of activities to get involved in. As a Chance to Shine coaching ambassador, I still maintain that there is nothing better than when we get the opportunity to go into schools and give young children a chance to play a sport that we love. It really does take you back to the grassroots and to why you play the game.

Before I start a coaching session I often ask how many of the girls play cricket outside of school, and more often than not, very few hands go up. After the session I then ask how many girls would consider going to their local clubs, and have a go there, and it's amazing to see so many hands fly up.

It is so inspiring and the girls now have so many more opportunities to play. When I was a youngster, there were barely any women's clubs that I could join and hence the reason why I grew up playing boys' cricket. But now, there are so many clubs around, it's hard to keep count!

#WCW2016

Women's sport in general is snowballing in the UK and cricket is a big part of this. So between Saturday July 2 and Friday July 8 I would like to encourage everyone out there to come together and celebrate the women's game.  

As an England squad, we all absolutely love sharing posts and photos across social media, so during Women's Cricket Week make sure that you share your own cricket celebration on Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #WCW2016. There will be a signed England women's playing shirt up for grabs for the best photo, so don't be shy!