Shane Cross

We didn't really know how to deal with that. Things just got rowdy and people started lashing out on each other, and this and that — kind of blaming people and ... it didn't really hit me until months later. Like, I think it didn't-like we went to Shane's funeral, everyone was there, and it was like one of the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Like, there's like 250 skateboarders around the world, and close friends and family, all together there, and ... why couldn't it have been just like, everyone there, just like Shane 'Skater of the Year' party, or something, you know? Why did it have to be a funeral?

Cross featured in several prominent skateboarding videos and his sponsors included Legacy Skateboards (discontinued – founded by former Australian Globe teammate, Matt Mumford), Flip Skateboards, Volcom, Globe, Thunder, 4128 and Ricta.

At the 2012 Thunderdome skateboarding contest, held at Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia, Duncombe presented a skateboard griptape design that featured Cross's name (the "o" had been transformed into the Gerald Holtom-designed peace symbol and the griptape was produced in a variety of colours) and a group photograph was taken in which various competitors held up the griptape.

Cross is included in a list, 'Ten Infamous Australians', published in a 2011 edition of Transworld Skateboarding and is one of 'Seven Aussie Greats' on the Adrenalist web site (number 4).

The Australian and wider skateboarding community was devastated by Cross' death, with the deputy editor of Australia's Slam magazine, Trent Fahey, stating that "Shane would be the most naturally talented skateboarder ever to come out of Australia". Cross' funeral was attended by a large contingency of skateboarders from both Australia and the rest of the world (Saari has cited the attendance total, including family, as 250 people), while several memorial events were held to celebrate his life (at the 2008 Slam Skater of the Year Award ceremony, held in Surry Hills, Sydney, the following dedication was announced: "This award is for Shane Cross, in fact from now on every fucking award is for Shane Cross"—that year's award was won by Marnell); numerous tributes and memorial pages have been publicly released on the subsequent anniversaries of Cross' death and, in 2011, Flip uploaded a dedication to Cross on its website, stating, "We miss you buddy! Forever in our hearts. Ride on."

On 7 March 2007, Cross was killed in a motorcycle crash in Melbourne, Australia — he was a passenger on a motorcycle ridden by Swedish professional skateboarder, Ali Boulala, who was seriously injured in the crash. Prior to the crash, both riders were affected by alcohol, and neither wore helmets as a safety precaution before embarking on the ride. The Daily Telegraph newspaper, published in Sydney, Australia, disclosed in a post-accident article:

In 2007 Duncombe, a close friend, designed a tribute skateboard deck for Cross. The deck was released by Blind, Duncombe's board sponsor at the time, and all proceeds from the product's sale were donated to the Cross family. Duncombe also attained a tattoo—drawn in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia—on his forearm in remembrance of Cross. Duncombe used a photograph of Cross from the last skateboard tour that they were tour-mates on as the basis for the tattoo, and the image depicts Cross laughing while wearing a headband that holds back lengthy hair.

Marnell stated in a series of five-year anniversary interviews for Transworld Skateboarding magazine, in specific relation to the magazine's 2006 "TransAm" tour, "I mean, he was like, everyone's best friend. Because, in a way, everyone had some sort of tie with him. Everyone loved him and always good vibes; always a smile on his face." As part of the same series, sponsored skateboarder, Angel Ramirez, stated, "'Handshakes are for strangers; give me a hug'. He would always say that." Mark Whiteley, while an editor for SLAP magazine, revealed in a forum thread entitled, "Remembering Shane Cross 4 Years On":

Cross was featured in both Australian and international skate magazines and was interviewed by Thrasher Magazine in 2004. He was voted by his Australian peers as Slam Magazine's Skateboarder of the Year in 2005 and featured on the covers of Transworld Skateboarding (February 2005), Slap Magazine (April 2007) and Thrasher Magazine (June 2007).

Shane Cross (22 August 1986 – 7 March 2007) was an Australian street skateboarder from the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Cross gained global prominence within the skateboarding community during the mid-2000s, before his death in a motorcycle crash when he was 20.