BURY cricketer Kate Cross joined former England skipper Graham Gooch in raising over £50,000 as part of a group completing the Three Peaks Challenge.

Kate, who captains Lancashire Thunder and won her first England cap in 2013, was one of a group of 50 dedicated climbers taking on the UK’s highest mountains in aid of the Professional Cricketers’ Trust and Tom Maynard Trust.

The physically demanding trek was made increasingly difficult due to bad weather on day one in Scotland, which saw the walkers climb Ben Nevis, before travelling to England to complete Scafell Pike and then Snowdon in Wales on Sunday. In total, it amounted to 26 miles walked and 3,407 metres climbed on three different mountains in three different countries.

Shortly after the final fundraisers made their way down Snowdon on Sunday afternoon, the ambitious target of £50,000 was surpassed with donations open until the end of November.

The Cricketers’ Trust is professional cricket’s leading charity, which helps current and former players and their immediate families, when they have fallen on hard times.

The Tom Maynard Trust was set up in the summer of 2012 following the tragic death of 23-year-old Surrey cricketer Tom Maynard who was killed after he was stopped by police in London for erratic driving, and fled across the rail-tracks, where he was electrocuted and then hit by a train. The charity aims to try to provide low level financial support for young cricketers making their way in the game.

Kate, 28. who began her career at Heywood Cricket Club, said: “The Three Peaks Challenge was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done in my life. Ben Nevis especially! The weather made two of the mountains particularly difficult, but it was also such a fulfilling challenge. The people I met made it an unbelievable experience. As a player to know we always have the Trust there if we need it and to see the kind of work the charity does just made me want to support it even more.”