Former England cricketers Kate Cross and Alex Hartley have revealed they were subjected to online abuse after comments they made about the scheduling of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals sparked widespread controversy.
The debate began on an episode of No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, where Cross questioned why India, if they qualified for the knockout stage, had already been allocated the first semi-final, scheduled in a prime-time television slot for Indian audiences. “Can we talk about the fact that I have seen today that if India qualify for the semis, they’re guaranteed to play in the Tuesday semifinal because the ICC thinks that it’s the best one for them to play in time-wise.” Cross said.
Hartley agreed during the discussion, noting that similar scheduling arrangements had been seen across previous ICC events. The comments quickly spread across social media, with many users interpreting them as an allegation that the International Cricket Council had favoured India.
The ICC later issued a clarification, stating that the scheduling was designed to maximise viewership in both the United Kingdom and global markets rather than benefit any specific team. Speaking in a later episode of the podcast, Hartley said she had contacted an ICC official to understand the reasoning behind the scheduling before addressing the issue publicly.
“I’ve actually spoken to somebody at the ICC to clarify everything that has been said. This is what the ICC said: ‘We’d like to clarify that this has nothing to do with India and that this has been done to optimize spectatorship in the UK as much as the global viewing.’ So, my interpretation of that is that the 6:30 start is for the UK audience.” Hartley revealed that both presenters had been targeted with abusive messages online following the backlash.
Cross said the scale of the reaction had been unprecedented, explaining that their social media accounts were flooded with comments after the podcast clip circulated online. She maintained that neither she nor Hartley had intended to criticise India or its players. “I woke up this morning to 450 comments on that Instagram post about the ICC scheduling for the semifinals. Normally, we get around 30 comments per post. There’s been a little bit of confusion because what we said doesn’t warrant death threats and abuse.”
The former England seamer also stressed that her original remarks had been taken out of context and urged people to quote what had actually been said rather than relying on interpretations shared online.”It feels like we’ve cleared that up. Thanks to everyone who got in touch and supported us. That’s been lovely to read. It’s mad, isn’t it? We’ve spoken about social media so much on this platform, but let’s just be a bit kinder. I wasn’t slagging off India as a cricket team.”
Cross explained that her concern had been about tournament scheduling rather than any participating side, while the ICC’s subsequent clarification confirmed that the semi-final timings had been determined by broadcast and spectator considerations rather than the identity of the teams involved. The debate ultimately became irrelevant from a competitive standpoint after India failed to reach the knockout stage.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s side bowed out of the tournament following a six-wicket defeat to Australia in their final Group A fixture at Lord’s, finishing third in the standings.
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