The year after winning the County Championship, Lancashire were relegated to the second division. Cross played in all 16 of Lancashire's Championship matches that year, scoring 547 runs including three haljf-centuries, with a highest score of 74 not out. Cross scored his third first-class century during a drawn match against Hampshire in May 2013, his first in two years. Though Lancashire secured immediate promotion back to the first division of the Championship through winning the second division title, Cross was dropped for the final two matches of the season as Alex Davies was preferred to keep wicket. In September, after scoring 409 runs from 13 Championship matches that year, Cross was released from his contract with the club.