Middlesex County Cricket League

The Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL) is the only adult Saturday league for recreational club cricket in the historic county of Middlesex, England.[1] In practical terms, this means it encompasses teams from North and West London. The league was founded in 1972, and since 1999 the top division of the Middlesex County Cricket League has been a designated ECB Premier League.[2]

Middlesex County Cricket League
Countries United Kingdom
AdministratorECB
FormatLimited Overs
First edition1972
Tournament formatLeague
Number of teams43 (Clubs)
Current championStanmore CC
Most successfulEaling CC (11)
Websitehttps://www.middlesexccl.com

Four MCCL clubs have won the ECB National Club Cricket Championship: Enfield (1988), Hampstead (1969), Southgate (1977), and Teddington (1989 and 1991). Ealing have won the ECB National Club Twenty20 twice (2011 and 2015).

History

The MCCL was officially founded in 1972, after holding a 'dry run' in 1971 to ensure that the league's launch went smoothly.[3] It was founded with 16 clubs as members (Brentham, Brondesbury, Ealing, Edmonton, Enfield, Finchley, Hornsey, North Middlesex, Richmond, Shepherds Bush, South Hampstead, Southgate, Stanmore, Teddington, Wembley, and Winchmore Hill), and in the first season Hornsey won the league title with ten wins from their fifteen fixtures.[4] Nine of the ten clubs who are expected to play in the Premier Division in 2024 were among these founder members.

The format of matches was the same for the formation of the league until 2014, with all matches played on a "timed" basis, with draws possible. From 2015 onwards, the format was changed in the Premier Division such that half the matches were timed, and half played in a limited overs format; in 2016, other divisions followed, with all adopting split formats.[4]

The dominant team in the league has evolved over time, with Finchley dominant in the 1970s and 1990s, while Ealing won an unprecedented seven consecutive titles from 2005 to 2011.[3]

League Structure

The league is played (other than in the lowest divisions) between divisions of ten clubs, each playing the other members of their division twice for an 18 week season, commencing in early May and ending in early September. Divisions are segregated so that a first XI from one club will only play first XIs of other clubs; the same is the case for second XIs, while third, fourth and fifth XIs play in a merged competition. The MCCL has undergone two major mergers in recent years, merging with the 1987 League in 2019, and then subsequently absorbing the Middlesex Championship ahead of the 2021 season.[1] Following those mergers the League consists of six full divisions and a shorthanded seventh division for first XIs; five full divisions and a reduced size fifth division for second XIs; and nine divisions for third, fourth and fifth XIs.[3]

Winners

Middlesex County Cricket League since 1972
  1. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic an ad-hoc league competition took place during the late summer of 2020. No team was relegated, although the winners were regarded as official league champions.

Source: [4]

Performance by season from 1999
Key
Gold Champions
Blue Left League
Red Relegated
Performance by season, from 1999
Club 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Acton 10
Barnes 8 10
Brentham 7 6 9 9 10
Brondesbury 1 1 2 3 1 2 2 7 5 6 7 4 7 9 10 8 9 8 9 2
Crouch End 7 1 3 4
Ealing 1 4 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 7 7 6
Eastcote 8 5 6 7 9 9 8 7 5 3 4 4 10 10
Finchley 3 2 7 6 5 5 8 2 2 4 3 8 5 7 7 8 9 7 8 7 9 10 8
Hampstead 9 7 5 3 3 3 4 5 8 6 1 6 1 6 5 6 2 5 8 6 9
Harrow St Mary's 10
Highgate 10
Hornsey 9 5 8 9 10
Ickenham 10
Indian Gymkhana 10
North Middlesex 5 5 2 3 3 1 6 2 5 5
Richmond 10 8 2 6 1 6 8 9 10 9 5 7 2 3 4 1 6 2 6 9
Shepherds Bush 8 9 7 6 5 4 3 4 2 3
Southgate 9 7 9 9 10 7 4 9
Stanmore 4 10 8 2 6 3 4 7 8 6 6 6 8 3 4 3 8 10 9 4 1
Teddington 6 3 4 1 4 8 4 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 6 1 8 1 2 4 5 1 3 1 7
Twickenham 7 10 4 2 6 9 7 8 10 5 8 10
Uxbridge 5 7 10 10
Wembley 8 5 5 10 10
Winchmore Hill 2 4 3 10 4 7 5 6 5 9 3 1 9
References [4] [4] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23][lower-alpha 1] [24] [25] [26]
  1. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic an ad-hoc league competition took place during the late summer of 2020. No team was relegated, although the winners were regarded as official league champions.

References
  1. "Middlesex Championship Merges with Middlesex County Cricket League". middlesexccc.com. Middlesex Cricket. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  2. List of ECB Premier Leagues Archived 2008-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Middlesex County Cricket League". middlesexccl.play-cricket.com. Middlesex County Cricket League. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  4. "First Teams - Premier Division: tables". middlesexccl.com. Middlesex County Cricket League. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  5. "1st XI Division One - 2002".
  6. "1st XI Division One - 2003".
  7. "1st XI Division One - 2004".
  8. "1st XI Division One - 2005".
  9. "1st XI Division One - 2006".
  10. "1st XI Division One - 2007".
  11. "1st XI Division One - 2008".
  12. "1st XI Division One - 2009".
  13. "1st XI Division One - 2010".
  14. "1st XI Division One - 2011".
  15. "1st XI Division One - 2012".
  16. "1st XI Division One - 2013".
  17. "1st XI Division One - 2014".
  18. "1st XI Division One - 2015".
  19. "1st XI Division One - 2016".
  20. "Premier Division - 2017".
  21. "Premier Division - 2018".
  22. "Premier Division - 2019".
  23. "Premier Division - 2020".
  24. "1st XI Premier Division - 2021".
  25. "1st XI Premier Division - 2022".
  26. "1st XI Premier Division - 2023".
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