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 st ...
structure of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
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 neighbour ...
which has effectively been subsumed within the
ceremonial county
The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...
of
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness
Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...
. 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 b ...
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, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...
, 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
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, Californi ...
(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 anothe ...
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
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 b ...
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 Englan ...
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, through which they became the first county club to qualify for both the
Stanford Super Series and the
Twenty20 Champions League.
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
George Bent Buckley (1885 – 26 April 1962) was an English surgeon and a celebrated cricket historian and an authority on the early days of the game.
Buckley was born in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, the son of Arthur and Jane Buckley, his fathe ...
, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', Cotterell, 1935.
The earliest known match in Middlesex took place at
Lamb's Conduit Fields Lamb's Conduit Field, also known as Lamb's Conduit Fields was an open area in what is now the London Borough of Camden. The fields lay north of the Lamb's Conduit water feature that gave it its name, and lay mostly in the parish of St Pancras. It ...
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
Henry Thomas Waghorn (11 April 1842 – 30 January 1930), was a cricket statistician and historian. He is best known for his two classic researches into cricket's early history: ''The Dawn of Cricket'' and Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730 - 1773 ...
, ''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 ...
, 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
]
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
Vyell Edward Walker (20 April 1837 – 3 January 1906) was an English cricketer and administrator.
Teddy Walker was born in Southgate, Middlesex and educated at Harrow School. He was the fifth of seven cricket playing brothers who resided at ...
, 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 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
Prince's Cricket Ground in Chelsea, London was a cricket ground, created by the brothers George and James Prince as part of the Prince's Club, on which 37 first-class matches were played between 1872 and 1878. The ground was built on in 1883. The ...
from 1872 to 1876, and began using 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 ...
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
Events
January
* January 1
** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime.
** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...
. He needed just 15 innings, with 4 centuries, and every run was scored at Lord's. Don Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has b ...
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
Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...
' 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
John Ernest Emburey (born 20 August 1952) is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England.
According to cricket writer Colin Bateman, Emburey's participation in two ...
and Phil Edmonds, and overseas fast bowlers such as Wayne Daniel
Wayne Wendell Daniel (born 16 January 1956) is a former cricketer, who played as a right arm fast bowler. Daniel featured for the West Indies, Middlesex, Barbados and Western Australia in his cricketing career.
Cricket career
Born in St Phi ...
.
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 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.
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.
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
Dawid Johannes Malan ( ; born 3 September 1987) is an English cricketer who plays internationally for England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Yorkshire, having previously played for Middlesex, and has played in multiple Twen ...
& Nick Gubbins
Nicholas Richard Trail Gubbins (born 31 December 1993) is an English first-class cricketer who plays for Hampshire.
He is a left-handed batsman and right arm leg spin bowler. He made his first-class debut for Leeds/Bradford MCCU against Yorksh ...
v. Sussex, Hove, 2015
* 3rd – 165 Mark Ramprakash & John Carr v. Nottinghamshire, Lord's, 1993
* 4th – 220 Ed Joyce & Jamie Dalrymple v. Glamorgan, Lord's, 2004
* 5th – 147 Mark Ramprakash & John Carr v. Leicestershire, Leicester, 1992
* 6th – 142* Ben Hutton & Nick Compton
Nicholas Richard Denis Compton (born 26 June 1983) is a South African-born English former Test and first-class cricketer who most recently played for Middlesex County Cricket Club. The grandson of Denis Compton, he represented England in 16 Te ...
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 v. Northamptonshire, Lord's, 1999
* 10th – 57* Eoin Morgan & Mohammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...
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.
Source:Middlesex CCC Players
Officers
Club presidents
Club chairmen
Board of Directors
/h1>
Officers
* President: Mike Selvey
* Chair: 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 ...
: 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 especially ...
: Andrew Cornish
* CFO: Illa Bhardwaj
Directors
Staff
Club secretaries
Chief executive officers
* Vinny Codrington
Vincent Joseph Codrington (born 18 July 1956) is an English sports administrator and a former CEO of Middlesex County Cricket Club.
Codrington was educated at St. Benedict's School, Ealing. He played rugby union as a fly half for Richmond ...
1997–2015
* Richard Goatley
Richard John Goatley (born 10 June 1974) is an English cricket administrator and chartered accountant.
Background
Goatley was educated at St Columba's College, St Albans (1985–1992) and King's College London (1992–1995) where he g ...
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 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, ''A Social History of English Cricket'', Aurum, 1999
* Rowland Bowen, ''Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development'', Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* Roy Webber, ''The Playfair Book of Cricket Records'', Playfair Books, 1951
* '' Playfair Cricket Annual'' – 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 a ...
'' – 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