Two years after he last played a first-class match, Cross returned to the County Championship team in July 2010. With Luke Sutton acting as wicket-keeper and batting at seven, Cross played as a specialist batsman. Playing against Hampshire, he batted at six; he scored his maiden century, beating his previous best score of 70, to help Lancashire draw. Cross was reprimanded in August for showing dissent in a second XI match. Sutton left the club towards the end of the season, and Cross was expected to take the position of Lancashire's first-choice wicketkeeper.