Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by s ...

structure of England and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It represents the historic county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouri ...

which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial county of

Greater London Greater may refer to: * Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film * Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 * Greater Bank, an Austra ...

. 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 The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It be ...

since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The club plays most of its home games at

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County ...

, which is owned by

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, NW postcode area, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considera ...

, in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west fr ...

. The club also plays some games at the

Uxbridge Cricket Club Ground Uxbridge Cricket Ground opened in 1971. Uxbridge Cricket Club moved here after a redevelopment of Uxbridge High Street saw the club move from their Cricketfield Road ground. The present ground is situated across from Uxbridge Common on which t ...

(historically Middlesex) and the

Old Deer Park Old Deer Park is an area of open space within Richmond, owned by the Crown Estate, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It covers of which are leased as sports grounds for sports, particularly rugby and golf. Despite th ...

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. 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. 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 Breakthrough Breast Cancer was a United Kingdom charity whose mission was to "save lives through improving early diagnosis, developing new treatments and preventing all types of breast cancer". In 2015, Breakthrough Breast Cancer merged with anoth ...

charity. The club has an indoor school based in Finchley, the Middlesex Academy and a project at Radlett Cricket Club. Middlesex have won thirteen

titles (including 2 shared titles), the most recent in 2016. In limited overs cricket, they have won two

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

s, four one-day cricket titles, one

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

and the

Twenty20 Cup The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (E ...

, through which they became the first county club to qualify for both the

Stanford Super Series The Stanford Super Series were a series of Twenty20 cricket matches in 2008, sponsored by Allen Stanford. The main game of the Series matched the English national cricket team against an all-star team from the Caribbean, called the Stanford Su ...

and the

Twenty20 Champions League The Champions League Twenty20, also referred to as the CLT20, was an annual international Twenty20 Cricket competition played between qualifying domestic teams from some major cricketing nations. The competition was launched in 2008 with the f ...

Honours

First XI honours

* Champion County (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 (4) – 1977, 1980, 1984, 1988 * National League (1) – 1992 :''Division Two'' (1): 2004 * Twenty20 Cup (1) – 2008 * Benson & Hedges Cup (2) – 1983, 1986

Second XI honours

* 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

Earliest cricket

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. G. B. Buckley, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', Cotterell, 1935. The earliest known match in Middlesex took place at Lamb's Conduit Fields in

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its ro ...

on 3 July 1707 involving teams from London and Croydon. H. T. Waghorn, ''The Dawn of Cricket'', Electric Press, 1906. In 1718, the first reference is found to White Conduit Fields in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the a ...

, which later became a very famous London venue. 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". 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 County cricket teams representing Middlesex have been traced back to the 18th century, although for long periods the county was secondary to the London Cricket Club which played at the Artillery Ground. Middlesex teams played at various grounds ...

Origin of club

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

Middlesex CCC played its initial first-class match versus

Sussex CCC Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The c ...

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

in 1877.

20th century

The club has produced several noted players, particularly the great batsmen Patsy Hendren,

Bill Edrich William John Edrich (26 March 1916 – 24 April 1986) was a first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Norfolk and England. Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all pla ...

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 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, a ...

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 Sydney Maurice Brown (8 December 1917 – 28 December 1987) was an English cricketer active from 1937 to 1955 who played for Middlesex in 329 first-class matches as an opening batsman. He was born in Eltham, Kent, and died at Rickmansworth, He ...

'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 John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England. He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4 ...

and

Mike Gatting Michael William Gatting (born 6 June 1957) is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex (1975–1998; captain 1983–1997) and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test ma ...

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

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

and the

. 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. 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. On 24 October 2014, the club announced that the limited overs name will revert to Middlesex County Cricket Club (Middlesex CCC), with immediate effect. 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 seasons 2018 and 2019 they failed to gain enough points to secure promotion back up to Division one and will play in division two in 2020.

Sponsorship

Records

First-class

Team records

* 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

* 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

Bowling records

* 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

Wicket-keeping records

Most dismissals for Middlesex
Qualification – 500 dismissals

Best partnership for each wicket

* – Indicates that the partnership was unbroken

List A

Team records

* Highest total for – 380–5 (50 overs) v. Kent, Canterbury, 2019 * Highest total against – 367–6 (50 overs) by Sussex, Hove, 2015 * Lowest total for – 23 (32 overs) v. Yorkshire, Leeds, 1974 * Lowest total against – 41 (19.4 overs) by Northamptonshire, Northampton, 1972

Batting records

* Highest score – 182, S.S. Eskenazi, Radlett, 2022 * Highest score against – 163 C. J. Adams for Sussex, Arundel, 1999

Bowling records

* Best bowling for – 7–12 W. W. Daniel v. Minor Counties East, Ipswich, 1978 * Best bowling against – 6–28 A. W. Greig for Sussex, Hove, 1971

Best partnership for each wicket

* 1st – 210*

Paul Weekes Paul Nicholas Weekes (born 8 July 1969) is an English former cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offspin bowler. Born in Hackney, Weekes made his first-class debut for Middlesex in 1990. He is the only English cricketer to h ...

& Ed Smith v. Northumberland, Jesmond, 2005 * 2nd – 268 Dawid Malan & Nick Gubbins v. Sussex, Hove, 2015 * 3rd – 165 Mark Ramprakash & John Carr v. Nottinghamshire, Lord's, 1993 * 4th – 220 Ed Joyce &

Jamie Dalrymple James William Murray Dalrymple (born 21 January 1981) is a Kenyan-born former English cricketer, who played ODIs and T20Is for England. He is a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler. He is perhaps best known for taking a spectacular divin ...

v. Glamorgan, Lord's, 2004 * 5th – 147 Mark Ramprakash & John Carr v. Leicestershire, Leicester, 1992 * 6th – 142* Ben Hutton & Nick Compton v. Lancashire, Shenley, 2002 * 7th – 132 Keith Brown & N. F. Williams v. Somerset, Lord's, 1988 * 8th – 112 David Nash & A. A. Noffke v. Sussex, Lord's, 2002 * 9th – 73 David Nash &

Angus Fraser Angus Robert Charles Fraser (born 8 August 1965) is an English cricket administrator. He served as the managing director of Middlesex Cricket between 2009 and 2021, before assuming a new role heading the club's academy He is also a former E ...

v. Northamptonshire, Lord's, 1999 * 10th – 57* Eoin Morgan & Mohammad Ali v. Somerset, Bath, 2006 * Denotes not out/unbroken partnership

Club captains

Current squad

The Middlesex squad for the 2023 season consists of: * 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 In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

. Source:Middlesex CCC Players

Officers

Club presidents

Club chairmen

Board of Directors
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Officers
* President:
Mike Selvey Michael Walter William Selvey (born 25 April 1948), known as Mike Selvey, is an English former Test and county cricketer, and now a cricket writer and commentator. Selvey played in three Tests for England in 1976 and 1977. His county cricket ...
*
Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
: Mike O'Farrell *
Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...
: David Kendix *
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...
: Andrew Cornish * CFO: Illa Bhardwaj

Directors

Staff

Club secretaries

Chief executive officers
* Vinny Codrington 1997–2015 * Richard Goatley 2015-2021 * Andrew Cornish 2021 to date

Chief financial officers
* Illa Bhardwaj 2021 to date

Directors of cricket
* Alan Coleman 2022 to dat

Managing directors of cricket
*
Angus Fraser Angus Robert Charles Fraser (born 8 August 1965) is an English cricket administrator. He served as the managing director of Middlesex Cricket between 2009 and 2021, before assuming a new role heading the club's academy He is also a former E ...
2009-2021

Club coaches

Club scorers

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography
* Harry Altham, ''A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)'', George Allen & Unwin, 1962 *
Derek Birley Sir Derek Birley (31 May 1926 – 14 May 2002) was a distinguished English educationalist and a prize-winning writer on the social history of sport, particularly cricket. Life and career Born in a mining community in West Yorkshire, Birley atten ...
, ''A Social History of English Cricket'', Aurum, 1999 *
Rowland Bowen Major Rowland Francis Bowen (27 February 1916 – 4 September 1978) was a British Army officer and a cricket researcher, historian and writer. Educated at Westminster School, Bowen received an emergency commission in April 1942 into the In ...
, ''Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development'', Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 *
Roy Webber Roy Webber (died 14 November 1962 aged 48) was a British cricket scorer and statistician. After World War II, in which he served with the Royal Air Force, he decided to turn what had been his hobby into his profession. He had the necessary profi ...
, ''The Playfair Book of Cricket Records'', Playfair Books, 1951 * ''
Playfair Cricket Annual ''Playfair Cricket Annual'' is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. It has been published every year since 1948. Its main purposes are to revie ...
'' – various editions * ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in ...
'' – various editions

External links

Middlesex County Cricket Club

Brooks Macdonald sign a three year sponsorship agreement with Middlesex

Dave Houghton's batting analysis

ESPN Cricinfo

{{English first-class cricket clubs Middlesex County Cricket Club Cricket clubs established in 1864 English first-class cricket teams Cricket teams in London 1864 establishments in England