| MCL | |
| Name of League | Middlesex County Cricket League |
|---|---|
| Area | London |
| Web Site | Play Cricket Page |
Middlesex County Cricket League is a cricket league in Middlesex. Founded in 1972, the Middlesex County Cricket League has in the ensuing seasons made an excellent case for describing itself as THE Premier League in the south of England.
Five times our thoroughbreds have won the National KO Cup: (Hampstead, Southgate, Teddington (2) and Enfield whilst seven have fallen at the final hurdle: Ealing (3), Brentham, Finchley and Teddington (2). Ealing are also the current holders of the National T20 having demolished their opponents in the final at Chelmsford.
The now-defunct Evening Standard Challenge Trophy for senior clubs in and around London gave us the opportunity to show conclusively where the balance of power in the region lay: Finchley (4), Ealing (3), Teddington (3) and Brondesbury (2) all won in the 17 seasons the competition existed whilst a further seven clubs lost in the final.
Following the demise of the ESCT, the Club Cricket Conference stepped up to the plate and, albeit without sponsorship, have run a similar competition for the past three years. Finchley won the inaugural tournament in 2009 and were the beaten finalists the following year.
There is also the Middlesex Cup competition which has been held every year since 1969 when Hornsey won it for the only time at Lord’s. Although open to other clubs in the county, it is all but an MCCL League Cup with all bar six of the finalists and just three of the winners coming from outside our competition. Sadly, since then the finals have always been played on club grounds and the competition has fallen behind the others in recent years but is still a popular tournament.
The League Representative XI has been equally dominant in the Club Cricket Conference Inter League KO, winning a total of 8 finals (including 5 in the past 6 seasons) and succeeding in the inaugural (and, so far, only) National Inter League Challenge sponsored by Northern Rock – banking sponsors are in short supply these days!
Our strength truly comes from the cream of English club cricket as we are the only ECB Premier League to both ban financial inducements to players and limit overseas players to one per team with no current 1st class cricketers allowed (contracted Middlesex and MCC Young Cricketers excepted).