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]

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

The teams competing in the Premier Division in 2021 are Brondesbury, Crouch End, Ealing, Finchley, Hampstead, North Middlesex, Richmond, Shepherds Bush, Teddington, and Twickenham.


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] As of the 2021 season, 7 of the 10 sides in the Premier Division are one of these founding 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]

The current champions are Teddington CC, winning the Premier Division in a Covid-shortened season of 9 matches in 2020.

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.[5] 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.[6]

Winners
YearChampions
1972Hornsey
1973Finchley
1974South Hampstead
1975Finchley
1976Southgate
1977Southgate
1978Finchley
1979Finchley
1980Finchley
1981Hornsey
1982Enfield
1983Stanmore
1984Teddington
1985Teddington
1986Enfield
1987Finchley
1988South Hampstead
1989Richmond
1990North Middlesex
1991Ealing
YearChampions
1992Finchley
1993Finchley
1994Finchley
1995Teddington
1996Teddington
1997Ealing
1998Richmond
1999Brondesbury
2000Brondesbury
2001Ealing
2002Teddington
2003Brondesbury
2004Richmond
2005Ealing
2006Ealing
2007Ealing
2008Ealing
2009Ealing
2010Ealing
2011Ealing
YearChampions
2012Winchmore Hill
2013Hampstead
2014Teddington
2015Hampstead
2016Teddington
2017Ealing
2018Richmond
2019North Middlesex
2020Teddington

Source: [4]

Performance by season from 1999
Key
Gold Champions
Red Relegated
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
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
Crouch End 7
Ealing 1 4 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4
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
Hampstead 9 7 5 3 3 3 4 5 8 6 1 6 1 6 5 6 2 5
Harrow St Mary's 10
Highgate 10
Hornsey 9 5 8 9
Ickenham 10
Indian Gymkhana 10
North Middlesex 5 5 2 3 3 1 6
Richmond 10 8 2 6 1 6 8 9 10 9 5 7 2 3 4 1 6 2
Shepherds Bush 8 9 7 6 5 4 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
Teddington 6 3 4 1 4 8 4 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 6 1 8 1 2 4 5 1
Twickenham 7 10 4 2 6 9 7 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
[4] [4] [4] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]

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