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Middlesex County Cricket Club

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Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial county of Greater London. The club was founded in 1864 but teams representing the county have played top-class cricket since the early 18th century and the club has always held first-class status. Middlesex have competed in the County Championship since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England.[1]

Middlesex County Cricket Club
One Day nameMiddlesex
Personnel
CaptainToby Roland-Jones
One Day captainTBC (LA)
Stephen Eskinazi (T20)
CoachRichard Johnson
Chief executiveAndrew Cornish [1]
Team information
ColoursFirst-class:
White shirts
White trousers
List A:
Harlequin shirts
Blue trousers
T20:
Pink shirts
Blue trousers
Founded1864
Home groundLord's
Capacity31,100
History
First-class debutSussex
in 1864
at Cattle Market Ground, Islington
Championship wins11 (plus 2 shared)
Sunday League wins1
Benson & Hedges Cup wins2
One-Day Cup wins4
Twenty20 Cup wins1
Official websiteMiddlesex CCC
14 April 2023

First-class

One-day

T20

The club plays most of its home games at Lord's Cricket Ground, which is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club, in St John's Wood. The club also plays some games at the Uxbridge Cricket Club Ground (historically Middlesex) and the Old Deer Park in Richmond (historically Surrey). Until October 2014, the club played limited overs cricket as the Middlesex Panthers, having changed from Middlesex Crusaders in 2009 following complaints from Muslims and Jews.[2] On 24 October 2014, the club announced that they would use the name Middlesex County Cricket Club in all forms of the sport with immediate effect.[3] Limited-overs kit colours are dark blue and pink quarters and from 2007, Middlesex have worn exclusive pink shirts during their Twenty20 matches in support of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity. The club has an indoor school based in Finchley, the Middlesex Academy and a project at Radlett Cricket Club.

Middlesex have won thirteen County Championship titles (including 2 shared titles), the most recent in 2016. In limited overs cricket, they have won two Benson & Hedges Cups, four one-day cricket titles, one National League and the Twenty20 Cup, through which they became the first county club to qualify for both the Stanford Super Series and the Twenty20 Champions League.

Honours

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See also: List of the competitive honours won by county cricket clubs in England and Wales

First XI honours

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  • Champion County[4] (1) – 1866
  • County Championship (11) – 1903, 1920, 1921, 1947, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1993, 2016; shared (2) – 1949, 1977
Division Two (1): 2011
  • FP Trophy[5] (4) – 1977, 1980, 1984, 1988
  • National League[6] (1) – 1992
Division Two (1): 2004
  • Twenty20 Cup (1) – 2008
  • Benson & Hedges Cup (2) – 1983, 1986

Second XI honours

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  • Second XI Championship (5) – 1974, 1989, 1993, 1999, 2000; shared (1) – 2013
  • Second XI Trophy (2) – 2007, 2018
  • Second XI T20 (2) – 2015, 2016
  • Minor Counties Championship (1) – 1935

History

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Earliest cricket

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It is almost certain that cricket reached London, and thereby Middlesex, by the 16th century. Early references to the game in London or Middlesex are often interchangeable and sometimes it is not clear if a particular team represents the city or the county.

See: History of cricket to 1696 and History of cricket 1697 - 1725

The first definite mention of cricket in London or Middlesex dates from 1680. It is a clear reference to "the two umpires" (the earliest mention of an umpire in what seems to be a cricket connection) and strongly suggests that the double wicket form of the game was already well known in London.[7]

The earliest known match in Middlesex took place at Lamb's Conduit Fields in Holborn on 3 July 1707 involving teams from London and Croydon.[8] In 1718, the first reference is found to White Conduit Fields in Islington, which later became a very famous London venue.[7]

The earliest known reference to a team called Middlesex is on 5 August 1728 when it played London Cricket Club "in the fields behind the Woolpack, in Islington, near Sadlers Wells, for £50 a side".[8] This was also the earliest known match involving a Middlesex team.

For information about Middlesex county teams before the formation of Middlesex CCC, see: Middlesex county cricket teams

Origin of club

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There are references to earlier county organisations, especially the MCC Thursday Club around 1800, but the definitive Middlesex club is the present Middlesex CCC. The club was informally founded on 15 December 1863 at a meeting in the London Tavern. Formal constitution took place on 2 February 1864. The creation of the club was largely through the efforts of the Walker family of Southgate, which included several notable players including the famous V. E. Walker, who in 1859 became the first player to take 10 wickets in an innings and score a century in the same match.

Early history

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Middlesex CCC played its initial first-class match versus Sussex CCC at Islington on 6 & 7 June 1864. In the same season, the club was a contender for the title of "Champion County". Middlesex played at Lillie Bridge Grounds from 1869 before leaving in 1872 due to the poor quality of the turf. The club nearly folded at this time, a vote for continuing being won 7–6. They played at Prince's Cricket Ground from 1872 to 1876, and began using Lord's Cricket Ground in 1877.

20th century

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The club has produced several noted players, particularly the great batsmen Patsy Hendren, Bill Edrich and Denis Compton.

Bill Edrich scored 1,000 runs before the end of May in 1938. He needed just 15 innings, with 4 centuries, and every run was scored at Lord's. Don Bradman gave him the chance to score the 10 runs he needed in the Australian tour match with Middlesex by declaring his team's innings early.

Middlesex won the County Championship in 1947 thanks to the unprecedented run scoring of Compton and Edrich. They both passed Tom Hayward's 1906 record of 3,518 runs in a season with Compton making 3,816 at 90.86 and Edrich 3,539 at 80.43 with a dozen centuries. Compton's 18 centuries surpassed Jack Hobbs' former record of 16, set in 1925. Together with Jack Robertson's 2,214 runs and Syd Brown's 1,709 and the bowling of Jack Young, Jim Sims, Laurie Gray and Compton and Edrich themselves, the championship was won. The following season Compton and Edrich made their record unbeaten stand of 424 for the 3rd wicket against Somerset at Lords.

Middlesex's most successful period coincided with the captaincies of Mike Brearley and Mike Gatting from 1971 to 1997. Brearley proved as astute for his county as he did for his country between 1971 and 1982. His team included Gatting and England spin bowlers John Emburey and Phil Edmonds, and overseas fast bowlers such as Wayne Daniel.

Recent history

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In 2007 Middlesex had mixed fortunes in Domestic Cricket. In the 4-Day version of the game, the club finished 3rd of the nine teams in Division 2 of the Liverpool Victoria County Championship, narrowly missing out on promotion. However, 3rd place in Division 2 of the NatWest Pro 40 League was enough to earn them a place in the play-off final against Northamptonshire Steelbacks. Middlesex won that game comfortably and therefore gained promotion to Division 1 for the 2008 Season. There was less success in the two knockout cups where Middlesex failed to progress beyond the group stages of either tournament. In the Friends Provident Trophy they finished 7th of the ten teams in the Southern Division. Likewise in the Twenty20 Cup, 5th place of the six teams in the Southern Division was not good enough to see them progress.

In 2008, Middlesex won the Twenty20 Cup by beating Kent in the final at The Rose Bowl. As well as being the club's first major trophy for 15 seasons, the final was also memorable for Middlesex's record breaking 187/6 (the highest ever Twenty20 Cup Finals Day score) with Kent's retort of 184/5 (being second on the all-time list) and ensured that the Cup was decided on the last ball of the match. The victory is also made historic as Middlesex became the first County Cricket Club to gain entry to both the Twenty20 Champions League and the Stanford Super Series.

However 2008 also saw Middlesex suffer relegation in the Pro40 Division One (finishing in last place). And in a copy of their final standings from the previous season, Middlesex both failed to make it past the group stage in the Friends Provident Trophy and finished in 3rd place in the County Championship Division Two, again missing out on promotion by just one position.

 
Middlesex cheerleaders at the British Asian Cup, 2009

It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the Middlesex Panthers, following complaints made by Muslim and Jewish communities.[2] On 24 October 2014, the club announced that the limited overs name will revert to Middlesex County Cricket Club (Middlesex CCC), with immediate effect.[3]

2011 saw a dramatic improvement in form for Middlesex, as they won the LV= County Championship Division Two for the first time in their history, sealing promotion to Division One for the 2012 season. They narrowly missed out on a place in the CB40 semi-finals, after coming joint top of their group with the Sussex Sharks, missing out only via net run-rate.

In 2016, Middlesex were unbeaten in the County Championship and secured the title on the final day of the season when they defeated one of their main challengers Yorkshire in the title decider at Lord's. A defeat for Middlesex in that match would have meant the title going to Yorkshire and a draw would have meant it going to Somerset.

The following season, 2017, Middlesex finished in the bottom two of the County Championship and were subsequently relegated down to the second Division. In 2022 they secured promotion back to the top flight of the County Championship on the penultimate day of the season by finishing runners up to Nottinghamshire in Division two.

Sponsorship

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Year Kit Manufacturer First-Class Shirt Sponsor One-Day Shirt Sponsor T20 Shirt Sponsor
2003 Crusader Sport Northern Rock
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008 MKK Sports
2009 Ignis
2010
2011
2012 Brooks Macdonald
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017 Nike
2018
2019 Brooks Macdonald JMAN Group Kingspan
2020 Perfect Smile Knight Frank
2021
2022 Knight Frank

Records

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First-class

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Team records

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  • Highest total for – 676–5 declared v. Sussex, Hove, 2021
  • Highest total against – 850–7 declared by Somerset, Taunton, 2007
  • Lowest total for – 20 v. MCC, Lord's, 1864
  • Lowest total against – 31 by Gloucestershire, Bristol, 1924

Batting records

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  • Highest score – 331 J. D. B. Robertson v. Worcestershire, Worcester, 1949
  • Highest score against – 341 C. M. Spearman for Gloucestershire, Gloucester, 2004
  • Most runs in season – 2,669 E. H. Hendren, 1923

Most runs for Middlesex
Qualification – 20,000 runs[9]

Batsman Runs
Patsy Hendren 40,302 (1907–1937)
Mike Gatting 28,411 (1975–1998)
Jack Hearne 27,612 (1909–1936)
Jack Robertson 27,088 (1937–1959)
Bill Edrich 25,738 (1937–1959)
Clive Radley 24,147 (1964–1987)
Eric Russell 23,103 (1956–1972)
Denis Compton 21,781 (1936–1958)
Peter Parfitt 21,302 (1956–1972)

Bowling records

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  • Best bowling – 10–40 G. O. B. Allen v. Lancashire, Lord's, 1929
  • Best bowling against – 9–38 R. C. Robertson-Glasgow for Somerset, Lord's, 1924
  • Best match bowling
    • 16–114 G. Burton v. Yorkshire, Bramall Lane, Sheffield, 1888
    • 16–114 J. T. Hearne v. Lancashire, Old Trafford, Manchester, 1898
  • Best match bowling against – 16–100 J. E. B. B. P. Q. C. Dwyer for Sussex, Hove, 1906
  • Wickets in season – 158 F. J. Titmus, 1955

Most wickets for Middlesex
Qualification – 1,000 wickets[10]

Bowler Wickets
Fred Titmus 2,361 (1949–1982)
J. T. Hearne 2,093 (1888–1923)
J. W. Hearne 1,438 (1909–1936)
Jim Sims 1,257 (1929–1952)
John Emburey 1,250 (1973–1995)
Jack Young 1,182 (1933–1956)
Jack Durston 1,178 (1919–1933)
Alan Moss 1,088 (1950–1963)
Frank Tarrant 1,005 (1904–1914)

Wicket-keeping records

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Most dismissals for Middlesex
Qualification – 500 dismissals [11]

Wicketkeeper Dismissals
John Murray 1,223 (1,023 catches & 200 stumpings) (1952–1975)
Fred Price 940 (629 catches & 311 stumpings) (1926–1947)
Joe Murrell 765 (502 catches & 263 stumpings) (1906–1926)
John Simpson 658 (621 catches & 37 stumpings) (2009-2023)
Leslie Compton 566 (437 catches & 129 stumpings) (1938–1956)
Paul Downton 547 (484 catches & 63 stumpings) (1980–1991)

Best partnership for each wicket

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Partnership Runs Players Opposition Venue Season
1st wicket 376 Sam Robson & Mark Stoneman v. Sussex Hove 2021
2nd wicket 380 Frank Tarrant & Jack Hearne v. Lancashire Lord's 1914
3rd wicket 424* Bill Edrich & Denis Compton v. Somerset Lord's 1948
4th wicket 325 Jack Hearne & Patsy Hendren v. Hampshire Lord's 1919
5th wicket 338 Robert Lucas & Tim O'Brien v. Sussex Hove 1895
6th wicket 270 John Carr & Paul Weekes v. Gloucestershire Lord's 1994
7th wicket 271* Patsy Hendren & Frank Mann v. Nottinghamshire Nottingham 1925
8th wicket 182* Mordaunt Doll & Joe Murrell v. Nottinghamshire Lord's 1913
9th wicket 172 Gareth Berg & Tim Murtagh v. Leicestershire Leicester 2011
10th wicket 230 Richard Nicholls & Mickey Roche v. Kent Lord's 1899
Source: Highest Partnership for Each Wicket for Middlesex CricketArchive.com; Last updated: 14 April 2024

* – Indicates that the partnership was unbroken

List A

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Team records

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  • Highest total for – 380–5 (50 overs) v. Kent, Canterbury, 2019
  • Highest total against – 404–4 (50 overs) by Sussex, Hove, 2022
  • Lowest total for – 23 (19.4 overs) v. Yorkshire, Leeds, 1974
  • Lowest total against – 41 (32 overs) by Northamptonshire, Northampton, 1975

Batting records

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  • Highest score – 182, S.S. Eskinazi, Radlett, 2022
  • Highest score against – 189* T. P. Alsop for Sussex, Hove, 2022

Bowling records

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  • Best bowling for – 7–12 W. W. Daniel v. Minor Counties East, Ipswich, 1978
  • Best bowling against – 6–27 J. C. Tredwell for Kent, Southgate, 2009

Best partnership for each wicket

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* Denotes not out/unbroken partnership

Club captains

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Current squad

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The Middlesex squad for the forthcoming 2025 English cricket season:

  • No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
  • ‡ denotes players with international caps.
  •  *  denotes a player who has been awarded a county cap.
No. Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Notes
Batters
4 Max Holden*   England (1997-12-18) 18 December 1997 (age 27) Left-handed Right-arm off break
9 Aaryan Sawant   England (2005-11-15) 15 November 2005 (age 19) Right-handed Right-arm off break
12 Sam Robson* ‡   England (1989-07-01) 1 July 1989 (age 35) Right-handed Right-arm leg break
14 Ben Geddes   England (2001-07-31) 31 July 2001 (age 23) Right-handed Right-arm medium
28 Stephen Eskinazi*   England (1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 (age 30) Right-handed — T20 captain
76 Leus du Plooy   South Africa (1995-01-12) 12 January 1995 (age 29) Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Hungarian passport
All-rounders
16 Sebastian Morgan   England (2007-08-30) 30 August 2007 (age 17) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
18 Nathan Fernandes   England (2004-04-26) 26 April 2004 (age 20) Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox
25 Josh de Caires   England (2002-04-25) 25 April 2002 (age 22) Right-handed Right-arm off break
29 Ryan Higgins*   England (1995-01-06) 6 January 1995 (age 29) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
Wicket-keepers
17 Jack Davies   England (2000-03-30) 30 March 2000 (age 24) Left-handed —
48 Joe Cracknell   England (2000-03-16) 16 March 2000 (age 24) Right-handed —
Bowlers
2 Naavya Sharma   England (2005-09-10) 10 September 2005 (age 19) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
7 Tom Helm*   England (1994-05-07) 7 May 1994 (age 30) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
8 Henry Brookes   England (1999-08-21) 21 August 1999 (age 25) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
10 Noah Cornwell   England (2004-09-10) 10 September 2004 (age 20) Left-handed Left-arm fast-medium
19 Blake Cullen   England (2002-02-19) 19 February 2002 (age 22) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
21 Toby Roland-Jones* ‡   England (1988-01-29) 29 January 1988 (age 36) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium Club captain
22 Ishaan Kaushal   England (2002-02-09) 9 February 2002 (age 22) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
56 Luke Hollman   England (2000-09-16) 16 September 2000 (age 24) Left-handed Right-arm leg break
77 Zafar Gohar ‡   Pakistan (1995-02-01) 1 February 1995 (age 29) Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Domestic player

Source:[12]

Club presidents

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Club chairs

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Board of directors

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Officers

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Directors

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Observers

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  • Asif Ahmed [11]
  • Shiv Haria Shah
  • Phil Stokes [12]
  • Lisa Whybrow

Source: Middlesex CCC [13] [16]

Club secretaries

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Chief executive officers

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Chief financial officers

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  • Illa Sharma 2021 to date [15]

Directors of cricket

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Managing directors of cricket

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Club coaches

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Club scorers

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See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^ ACS (1982). A Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS.
  2. ^ a b Cramb, Auslan (2 February 2009). "Middlesex Crusaders cricket team changes name after complaints from Muslims and Jews". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Middlesex County Cricket Club". www.middlesexccc.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014.
  4. ^ An unofficial seasonal title sometimes proclaimed by consensus of media and historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted. Although there are ante-dated claims prior to 1873, when residence qualifications were introduced, it is only since that ruling that any quasi-official status can be ascribed.
  5. ^ Formerly known as the Gillette Cup (1963–1980), NatWest Trophy (1981–2000) and C&G Trophy (2001–2006).
  6. ^ Formerly known as the Sunday League (1969–1998).
  7. ^ a b G. B. Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935.
  8. ^ a b H. T. Waghorn, The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906.
  9. ^ Most Runs for Middlesex Cricket Archive
  10. ^ Most Wickets for Middlesex Cricket Archive
  11. ^ The Middlesex Cricket Archive Cricket Archive
  12. ^ "Middlesex 1st XI Squad". Middlesex CCC. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Middlesex cricket announces appointment of new chair". Middlesex CCC. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Andrew Cornish Biography". Middlesex CCC. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Illa Sharma Biography". Middlesex CCC. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Board of Directors". Middlesex CCC. Retrieved 21 April 2024.

Bibliography

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