For followers of Middlesex County Cricket Club the cricket season has just entered its second month, but for many, this weekend, the first weekend of fixtures in the Middlesex County Cricket League and Middlesex Premier Cricket League, is when the cricket season really starts.
More than 110 clubs and over 300 teams will start their summer of cricket this weekend and all will be believing/hoping that by the start of September they will be triumphant. That, of course, will not be the case. Approximately 10% of the teams that play will lift silverware but that will not prevent thousands of cricketers achieving great deeds and having afternoons of fun with their mates.
Middlesex in the Community would like to wish every club a prosperous and enjoyable season, and all the players have personal and team success. It also hopes that all those who play show respect for the game, the officials and their opponents. We want adults to behave responsibly and thoughtfully, especially when juniors are playing in games. Safeguarding is incredibly important to the game of cricket and we want cricket in Middlesex to be inclusive and safe. If anyone has any concerns that this is not the case please contact Johan de Silva at [email protected]
We want you to have fun and for the cricket you play to be competitive and hard, and we also want to see it played fairly.
So get out there play your shots, bowl with pace, give the ball a rip and take hundreds of great catches. We look forward to watching your progress.
Middlesex County Cricket League
It would be accurate to say that 2025 was a ‘Carlsberg’ season for North Middlesex Cricket Club. Winning one of the three Middlesex County Cricket League Premier Leagues would signify a good year for any club, but to win all three – that is something quite special and congratulations must be extended to everyone at the club.
But we are now in 2026 and last summer’s heroics are now part of history and, as we know, success brings its own challenges. Winning after winning can often be more difficult than winning in the first place. North Middlesex now have quite a large target on their back and it will be fascinating to see how this fantastic club manages this unique challenge. They will certainly not want the beer to go flat in 2026.
Having has success in the past North Middlesex are experienced in handling success and they will rightly begin the season as favourites. Shepherds Bush have become an outstanding club in every way and they have been unfortunate not to have won more silverware than they have in the past five years. In the league ‘The Bush’ have been incredibly consistent, coming runners-up in three of the past four seasons. If Shepherds Bush were to win the MCCL league for the first time in their history in 2026 very few would begrudge them their success.
How strong the challenge to these two clubs will be will depend on recruitment and how well each of the other Premier League clubs are developing their own players. Teddington and Crouch End are always there or there abouts and it will be interesting to see which Ealing side turn out this year with a new captain in charge.
In the past few years the promoted teams have found it difficult to stay up. Indeed, in 2025 the two promoted teams from 2024 – Hampstead and Harrow St Mary’s – were relegated. Finchley and Twickenham will be hoping to this summer buck that trend.
The encouraging thing for Hampstead and Harrow St Mary’s is that they will be the favourites to either win Division 1 and/or get promoted. Wycombe House, Brondesbury and Acton all competed well in 2025 and fell just short, and each club will be hoping for another strong season. The two promoted clubs – Eastcote and Harrow – will be keen to make a positive impression. Both clubs have some momentum behind them and will be keen, in Eastcote’s case, to ultimately return to the Premier League.
Division Two contains four of the more prestigious clubs in Middlesex in Brentham, Enfield, Winchmore Hill and Southgate, who were relegated from Division One in 2025. If they are to start moving up the divisions they will need to overcome some more recently formed clubs like Ealing Trailfinders and London Tigers. Bessborough and West Harrow were the two teams that were promoted from Division Three in 2025 and both clubs will be looking to give a good account of themselves.
Division Three sees the arrival of a new club – Old Merchant Taylors’ – who have joined from the Thames Valley Cricket League. The MCCL welcomes them and hopes they enjoy being part of the League. The quality of cricket OMT’s have previously been playing means they join the MCCL pyramid at a higher level than other clubs, and they will be keen to show they are worthy of their place. Kay Plus and Chiswick are the two clubs that just missed promotion last year and they will be keen to go a step further. Harrow Town have had a difficult couple of years and they will be eager to bounce back too. Pinner Challengers and Headstone Manor are the two promoted teams and they will want to show they can compete at a higher level.
Alexandra Park and North London Muslims, who just missed out on promotion from Division Four in 2025, will undoubtedly be competing for promotion with Wembley and Stoke Newington, who were both relegated from Division Three. London Sportif and United Sports, the two clubs promoted from Division Five, will both be keen to make an positive impression.
Ealing Three Bridges produced one of the most remarkable seasons in club cricket in 2025 when the won all 14 of the MCCL games they played. Having been so dominant in Division Six it will be fascinating to see whether they can take the confidence gained from this success to Division Five. London Desperados, Perivale Phoenicians and London Superkings all narrowly missed out on promotion last year and they will not want to allow a team promoted from Division Six ease past them.
Division Six has grown from an eight team to a 10 team league in 2026, which is great news as it means clubs will have the opportunity to play every weekend. Swamibapa and United Sporting Club will be looking to bounce straight back up after being relegated from Division Five, whilst Tamil United and Elite will be wanting to establish themselves after gaining promotion. Youth Wing will start as favourites having just missed out on promotion in 2025.
Last but by no means least we come to Division Seven, a division which welcomes back Tower Hamlets CC, along with three new teams – GQ United, Harrow Lions and Tentelow. Everyone at the MCCL hopes you have an enjoyable season playing in the league.
Middlesex Premier Cricket League
After the excitement of winning the Premier Division of the Middlesex Premier Cricket League for the first time on the final day of the 2025 season, Harrow Lions will have had a winter of happiness and pride. But as with North Middlesex in the MCCL, that win is now history and the challenge is to do it again.
If they are to achieve this goal they will, once again, have to overcome Neasden and West Harrow, who they narrowly pipped for the title last year. These three clubs will be joined by Peshwa and United Sports Club, who both gained promotion from Division 1.
South Harrow and Friends United, the two teams relegated from the Premier Division in 2025 will be desperate to bounce back up in the top league and they will be pushed by West End, who narrowly missed out on promotion. It wasn’t only in the MCCL that Ealing Three Bridges had success in 2025, they also gained promotion to Division 1 of the MPCL, along with Gangeshwar. Ealing Three Bridges seem a club on the up and it would come as no surprise to see them challenging for a place in the Premier Division in August.
London Challengers would have been disappointed not to get promotion last season and they will be keen to address this over the coming months. They will undoubtedly be competing at the top of the table with the two relegated teams from Division One Rajput Samaj CC and Diu Daredevils.
For followers of Middlesex County Cricket Club the cricket season has just entered its second month, but for many, this weekend, the first weekend of fixtures in the Middlesex County Cricket League and Middlesex Premier Cricket League, is when the cricket season really starts.
More than 110 clubs and over 300 teams will start their summer of cricket this weekend and all will be believing/hoping that by the start of September they will be triumphant. That, of course, will not be the case. Approximately 10% of the teams that play will lift silverware but that will not prevent thousands of cricketers achieving great deeds and having afternoons of fun with their mates.
Middlesex in the Community would like to wish every club a prosperous and enjoyable season, and all the players have personal and team success. It also hopes that all those who play show respect for the game, the officials and their opponents. We want adults to behave responsibly and thoughtfully, especially when juniors are playing in games. Safeguarding is incredibly important to the game of cricket and we want cricket in Middlesex to be inclusive and safe. If anyone has any concerns that this is not the case please contact Johan de Silva at [email protected]
We want you to have fun and for the cricket you play to be competitive and hard, and we also want to see it played fairly.
So get out there play your shots, bowl with pace, give the ball a rip and take hundreds of great catches. We look forward to watching your progress.
Middlesex County Cricket League
It would be accurate to say that 2025 was a ‘Carlsberg’ season for North Middlesex Cricket Club. Winning one of the three Middlesex County Cricket League Premier Leagues would signify a good year for any club, but to win all three – that is something quite special and congratulations must be extended to everyone at the club.
But we are now in 2026 and last summer’s heroics are now part of history and, as we know, success brings its own challenges. Winning after winning can often be more difficult than winning in the first place. North Middlesex now have quite a large target on their back and it will be fascinating to see how this fantastic club manages this unique challenge. They will certainly not want the beer to go flat in 2026.
Having has success in the past North Middlesex are experienced in handling success and they will rightly begin the season as favourites. Shepherds Bush have become an outstanding club in every way and they have been unfortunate not to have won more silverware than they have in the past five years. In the league ‘The Bush’ have been incredibly consistent, coming runners-up in three of the past four seasons. If Shepherds Bush were to win the MCCL league for the first time in their history in 2026 very few would begrudge them their success.
How strong the challenge to these two clubs will be will depend on recruitment and how well each of the other Premier League clubs are developing their own players. Teddington and Crouch End are always there or there abouts and it will be interesting to see which Ealing side turn out this year with a new captain in charge.
In the past few years the promoted teams have found it difficult to stay up. Indeed, in 2025 the two promoted teams from 2024 – Hampstead and Harrow St Mary’s – were relegated. Finchley and Twickenham will be hoping to this summer buck that trend.
The encouraging thing for Hampstead and Harrow St Mary’s is that they will be the favourites to either win Division 1 and/or get promoted. Wycombe House, Brondesbury and Acton all competed well in 2025 and fell just short, and each club will be hoping for another strong season. The two promoted clubs – Eastcote and Harrow – will be keen to make a positive impression. Both clubs have some momentum behind them and will be keen, in Eastcote’s case, to ultimately return to the Premier League.
Division Two contains four of the more prestigious clubs in Middlesex in Brentham, Enfield, Winchmore Hill and Southgate, who were relegated from Division One in 2025. If they are to start moving up the divisions they will need to overcome some more recently formed clubs like Ealing Trailfinders and London Tigers. Bessborough and West Harrow were the two teams that were promoted from Division Three in 2025 and both clubs will be looking to give a good account of themselves.
Division Three sees the arrival of a new club – Old Merchant Taylors’ – who have joined from the Thames Valley Cricket League. The MCCL welcomes them and hopes they enjoy being part of the League. The quality of cricket OMT’s have previously been playing means they join the MCCL pyramid at a higher level than other clubs, and they will be keen to show they are worthy of their place. Kay Plus and Chiswick are the two clubs that just missed promotion last year and they will be keen to go a step further. Harrow Town have had a difficult couple of years and they will be eager to bounce back too. Pinner Challengers and Headstone Manor are the two promoted teams and they will want to show they can compete at a higher level.
Alexandra Park and North London Muslims, who just missed out on promotion from Division Four in 2025, will undoubtedly be competing for promotion with Wembley and Stoke Newington, who were both relegated from Division Three. London Sportif and United Sports, the two clubs promoted from Division Five, will both be keen to make an positive impression.
Ealing Three Bridges produced one of the most remarkable seasons in club cricket in 2025 when the won all 14 of the MCCL games they played. Having been so dominant in Division Six it will be fascinating to see whether they can take the confidence gained from this success to Division Five. London Desperados, Perivale Phoenicians and London Superkings all narrowly missed out on promotion last year and they will not want to allow a team promoted from Division Six ease past them.
Division Six has grown from an eight team to a 10 team league in 2026, which is great news as it means clubs will have the opportunity to play every weekend. Swamibapa and United Sporting Club will be looking to bounce straight back up after being relegated from Division Five, whilst Tamil United and Elite will be wanting to establish themselves after gaining promotion. Youth Wing will start as favourites having just missed out on promotion in 2025.
Last but by no means least we come to Division Seven, a division which welcomes back Tower Hamlets CC, along with three new teams – GQ United, Harrow Lions and Tentelow. Everyone at the MCCL hopes you have an enjoyable season playing in the league.
Middlesex Premier Cricket League
After the excitement of winning the Premier Division of the Middlesex Premier Cricket League for the first time on the final day of the 2025 season, Harrow Lions will have had a winter of happiness and pride. But as with North Middlesex in the MCCL, that win is now history and the challenge is to do it again.
If they are to achieve this goal they will, once again, have to overcome Neasden and West Harrow, who they narrowly pipped for the title last year. These three clubs will be joined by Peshwa and United Sports Club, who both gained promotion from Division 1.
South Harrow and Friends United, the two teams relegated from the Premier Division in 2025 will be desperate to bounce back up in the top league and they will be pushed by West End, who narrowly missed out on promotion. It wasn’t only in the MCCL that Ealing Three Bridges had success in 2025, they also gained promotion to Division 1 of the MPCL, along with Gangeshwar. Ealing Three Bridges seem a club on the up and it would come as no surprise to see them challenging for a place in the Premier Division in August.
London Challengers would have been disappointed not to get promotion last season and they will be keen to address this over the coming months. They will undoubtedly be competing at the top of the table with the two relegated teams from Division One Rajput Samaj CC and Diu Daredevils.
