Middlesex County Cricket Club

• The Ground
• Games
• Famous Players
• Honours
• Records
• Tickets
• Access
• Contact Info

Middlesex County features some excellent cricket grounds, but the most famous is the home of cricket itself: Lord’s in North-west London. The Middlesex County cricket team are known as the Middlesex Crusaders.

History

The Ground

County cricket began in Middlesex in 1863 at a meeting held by the Hon. Robert Grimston, but there were problems right from the start when an appropriate cricket ground could not be found. At first the club was located in Islington, but then the landlord increased rent prices so in 1869, after further problems at the ground, Middlesex County cricket moved to Lilles Bridge. However, the turf at this new ground was completely unsuitable and the club was close to dissolution. The decision was made by one vote in a group of thirteen and the club stayed open. Matters improved slightly in 1871, but no professionals joined the club and it moved again in 1872 to Prince’s. Builders quickly moved into Prince’s ground and the decision was finally made to move to Lord’s cricket ground in 1877, where Middlesex County cricket has resided ever since.

Games

Middlesex played their first county game against Buckinghamshire at Newport Pagnell in 1864; the result was a draw. Later on in the year Middlesex gained a victory of one innings over Sussex with the highest score coming from Captain Frederick. In a return match against Buckinghamshire, Middlesex came back from being 218 runs behind to winning by 138 runs with a final score of 463. In 1865 in a match against Lancashire, the first innings of which had ended in a tie, Mr V.E.Walker claimed all ten wickets for just 104 runs. 1866 was a particularly successful season for Middlesex: they won twice against Lancashire and Surrey, won once and lost once against Cambridge University and drew once and lost once against Nottinghamshire. In 1867 Middlesex County played against England, but lost by one innings and 25 runs. In 1878 the Hon. Edward Lyttleton scored 113 for Middlesex against Australia, the first ever century against the Antipodeans.

1888 was a particularly good year for Middlesex County bowling, when Burton had an analysis of 12.50 for 92, his greatest achievement being against Surrey when he took all ten wickets for 59 in the first innings at The Oval. 1889 saw a major improvement in Middlesex batting when Sir Timothy O’Brien and G.F.Vernon totalled a score of 112 in less than an hour, 92 of those being O’Brien’s. However, after this Middlesex’s scorecard became distinctly average and it was not until 1891 and the arrival of the bowler J.T.Hearne, who claimed 10-83 against Lancashire, that the team ended up third in the county championships. Over the next few years, Middlesex maintained their good form, but it was not until 1898 that they began to play exceptionally again. Up until July of that year they had only won two matches, but over the summer their form improved and they won seven of their eight fixtures, and drew the other, leading them to second place close behind Lancashire. They came second again in 1901, but this was down to good luck rather than good play. Finally in 1903, Middlesex obtained what had before seemed to be unattainable: County Championship Honours.

In 1938 popular all-rounder, Bill Edrich, scored 1000 runs before the end of May. He did this in just 15 innings, notching up four centuries, every one of which was achieved at Lord’s. Middlesex won the County Championship again in 1947 mostly due to the fantastic work of Edrich and Denis Compton. They both passed the previous record of 3518 runs in a season. Edrich scored 3539 at 80.43, with twelve centuries, and Compton achieved 3816 at 90.86 with eighteen centuries, a new record.

Middlesex achieved a joint win with Yorkshire at the County Championship in 1949. Cricket in Middlesex suffered after this period though and they did not win the Championship again until the late 70s, when they won in 1976 and the following year joint with Kent. Middlesex County seemed to be back on form and had a string of victories across the board of championships with a 1977 win of the FP Trophy. Their winning streak continued throughout the 80s with three wins of the County Championship in 1980, 1982 and 1985. They also won the FP Trophy in 1980, 1984 and 1988 and the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1983 and 1986. Their second XI team also enjoyed victory at the Second XI Championship in 1974 and 1989. For the first XI team, however, this good form did not last long after the turn of the decade with wins at the National League in 1992 and at the County Championship in 1990 and 1993. The Second XI have stayed fairly successful with wins at the Second XI Championship in 1993, 1999 and 2000. They also won the Second XI Trophy in 2007. Middlesex County's First XI have not enjoyed a major victory since the early 90s and despite a promising start to the Millennium, they have failed to re-discover the amazing form that they used to display.

In 2002 Middlesex were promoted from the second division of the County Championship to the first, but in 2006 they were relegated. In 2007 they came third in the second division with 192 1/2 points, behind Somerset and Nottinghamshire.

Famous Players

• Bill Edrich (right-hand bat, right-arm fast bowler), scored over 2000 runs in his first full season for Middlesex. He played with the county from 1937 to 1957.
• Mike Gatting (right-hand bat, right-arm medium bowler), played for Middlesex from 1975 to 1998 and captained the side from 1983 to 1997. He also represented England from 1977 to 1995. He scored a total of 28,411 runs for Middlesex, secondly only to Hendron.
• Patsy Hendron (right-hand bat, right-arm off-break), played for Middlesex from 1907 to 1937. His total of 170 centuries is second only to Sir Jack Hobbs.
• Justin Langer (left-hand bat), most famous for playing for Australia and opening the batting with Matthew Hayden, they still hold the title for the most successful opening pair to open test cricket. Langer played for Middlesex from 1998 to 2000 and was captain in 2000.
• Andrew Strauss (left-hand bat, left-arm medium), has played for Middlesex since 1998 and captained the team from 2002-2004. He also regularly plays for England and temporarily captained the team on four occasions.
• Fred Titmus (right-hand bat, right-arm off-break), took the highest number of wickets for Middlesex, totalling 2,361 between 1949 and 1982.

Honours

First XI

• County Championship - 1903, 1920, 1921, 1947, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1993; shared - 1949, 1977
• FP Trophy - 1977, 1980, 1984, 1988
• National League - 1992
• Division Two - 2004
• Benson & Hedges Cup - 1983, 1986

Second XI

• Second XI Championship - 1974, 1989, 1993, 1999, 2000
• Second XI Trophy - 2007
• Minor Counties Championship - 1935

Records

• Highest Win - 642-3 declared v Hampshire (1923)
• Highest Loss - 850-7 declared by Somerset (2007)
• Highest Batting Score - 331 JDB Robertson v Worcestershire (1949)
• Highest Batting Score Against - 341 CM Spearman for Gloucestershire (2004)
• Most Runs in Season - 2669 EH Hendren (1923)
• Best Bowling - 10-40 GOB Allen v Lancashire (1929)
• Best Match Bowling - 16-114 G Burton v Yorkshire (1888)
• Highest number of wickets in Season - 158 FJ Titmus (1955)

Tickets

Tickets for all major fixtures at Lord’s are available in advance. For non-major matches advanced ticket booking is unavailable and there is no reserved seating; instead all tickets are paid for on the day. For an up-to-date fixtures list and ticket information, visit Lord’s website here.

Access

Lord’s cricket ground is located in St. John’s Wood and is extremely easy to get to by car, bus and rail.

• By car: There is no parking onsite at Lord’s on major match days or three days beforehand; however, there are many car parks close to the site, although parking in London is notoriously expensive, especially with the congestion charge in place. Lord’s cricket ground is well sign-posted around the North of London and a map can be found here.
• By bus: Lord’s is served by many bus lines, which stop alongside or close to the ground:

1. Route 13 (alight at Wellington Road or Park Road)
2. Route 82 (alight at Wellington Road or Park Road)
3. Route 113 (alight at Wellington Road or Park Road)
4. Route 139 (alight at Grove End Road)
5. Route 187 (alight at Circus Road)
6. Route 189 (alight at Grove End Road)
7. Route 274 (alight at Park Road)
8. There is also a Green Line coach service, which connects Brent Cross and Luton to Lord’s. For times of services visit the Green Line website here.

• By rail: The nearest tube stations are St. John’s Wood (Jubilee Line), Warwick Avenue (Bakerloo Line) and Baker Street (Bakerloo, Circle, Jubilee, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines). Lord’s is also within walking distance of both Marylebone and Paddington mainline stations.

Contact Info

Middlesex County Cricket Club
Lord's Cricket Ground
London
NW8 8QN
Tel - 020 7289 1300 (Middlesex Office)
Fax - 020 7289 5831
Web - Middlesex CCC