MCCL SEASON REVIEW

So there we have it. The first Saturday in September has passed and another season in the rich tapestry of the Middlesex County Cricket League has – unless any clubs are in trouble for misbehaving -been consigned to history. Everyone knows where they stand, can see what they have achieved, has been made aware of their shortcomings and will be using the off-season to make things a little/lot better in 2027.

And, as ever in the MCCL, quite a lot has happened. In 2027 we will find a number of teams making their debuts in Divisions, some above where they have previously played; some below. For those that will be appearing in a league lower than they have previously for the first time, what I say here will not ring true. But, to me, this is a good thing.

We all want the MCCL to be as strong, competitive and open as we can, and the fact Harrow will be playing in the Premier Division, Bessborough will be playing in Division 1 and Kay Plus will be playing in Division 2 is great to see. It is a healthy sign and it shows how competitive cricket is in the county.

The most notable debuts will be made in the Premier Division and Division 1. In early May 2027 Harrow will take the field for the first time as a Premier Division side and we all wish them the best of luck in this exciting challenge. At the same time Ealing, historically the strongest, biggest and most successful club in Middlesex, will be playing in Division 1. How a club of Ealing’s size and stature gets its head around playing in anything but the Premier Division will be interesting to follow.

Huge congratulations must go to Bessborough and Kay Plus, who, as stated above, will play in Division’s 1 and 2 respectively for the first time. Bessborough are most famous for being the club that produced Mark Ramprakash and hopefully their continued journey through the Divisions will produce another player of similar ability.

Kay Plus is a club making progress on and off the field. As well as moving through the leagues they have a ground that they can, hopefully, start developing into a place that feels like home. Having gained promotion for the second consecutive season Ealing Three Bridges deserve a mention, and who would bet against them making it three in a row.

For every promoted team in the MCCL there is a relegated side and our commiserations go to the 13 clubs that are dropping down a level. Some of these clubs will, undoubtably, feel they have been a little unfortunate to go down – others less so. The good thing about the MCCL is that relegation is far from fatal and could be just a one year set-back if your club uses the situation to make the positive changes it probably needs to.

Player behaviour is always something to watch. Rightly, it remains a hot topic of discussion. Inevitably, there have been incidents, and, disappointingly, a few more than in 2025. Thankfully, it has not reached a level where it is dominated conversation and headlines. Many of the incidents take place in matches where there are not official or qualified umpires standing, which makes getting to the bottom of what took place incredibly difficult.

The MCCL is conscious of this and will continue to keep a close eye on things. We all want matches to be competitive but, equally, we should all know where the line of what is and isn’t acceptable is. We will always press for behaviour to improve.

And finally, could I just thank all the volunteers for all the amazing work they do each summer. Whether you are umpire, scorer, groundsperson, administrator or parent that prepares lunch and tea – THANK YOU. Without your commitment this game would not be what it is.

That just leaves me to hope you have a healthy and enjoyable off-season, and that you come back in 2027 ambitious, fresh and enthusiastic about doing it all again.

Right, so what did take place in 2026 – you cand find out below.

Premier Division

In the end it was a doddle.

Throughout August and leading up to Saturday’s match against Richmond, Crouch End Cricket Club would have been fearing the worst – that they were messing up a brilliant opportunity to win the Premier Division of the Middlesex County Cricket League for the second time in their history. With the finishing line in sight they had, for a couple of weeks anyway, stuttered.

Victory over Richmond was all that was required on the final day of the season, and they completed it on their own turf in convincing style. The nerves of previous weeks seemed to disappear as they dismissed their opponents in under 33 overs for 102. That Richmond reached a total of this size required something of a recovery as they were at one stage 43-7. Pratik Patel (4-28), Upen Sheikh (3-31) and Shaariq Sheikh (3-21) shared all the wickets and the Shepherds Cot club can be thankful to them for creating a stressless afternoon of cricket.

William Burridge (27*) led the charge as Crouch End passed their target in under 20 overs to complete a comfortable five-wicket victory. Throughout the afternoon, the matches of the other teams playing on Shepherds Cot would have undoubtedly been interrupted by the cheers and celebrations coming from the Crouch End Pavilion.

Winning an 18 game tournament throughout an entire summer requires the input of lots of players but six deserve special credit. With the bat Atharva Prasad and William Burridge both scored over 600 runs at an average of over 40, a run tally that placed both in the top 8 run-scorers in the Premier Division. With the ball Crouch End had three bowlers in the top 20 wicket takers – Aparajit Khurana (37), Shaariq Sheikh (29) and Jack Dry (21). In Natim Hassam they also had one of the leading all-rounders in the Division. In the eight games he played Hassam scored 283 runs at an average of 56.60 and took 17 wickets at 18.4 apiece.

Huge credit must go to Hornsey and Finchley, who both had excellent returns to the Premier Division. It was Hornsey that pushed Crouch End right to the last week and Finchley played some excellent cricket to finish 5^th.

At the other end Ealing were relegated to Division 1 for the first time in their history. Had they won at Teddington they could have avoided the dreaded drop as North Middlesex were beaten by Hornsey. In 2025 they managed to conjure up a last week miracle but this year it failed to materialise as they fell to a 44 run defeat.

Everyone will expect Ealing to rocket back up in 2027 and it will be interesting to see how the club and its players react to playing at venues they will rarely have played at. Harrow and North London have shown there are ambitious and competitive clubs in Division 1 and they will not return to the Premier Division if they start to feel sorry for themselves.

Premier Division Champions - Crouch End

Runners Up - Hornsey

Relegated - Twickenham and Ealing

Leading Premier Division Performers in 2026

Batters – most runs

Bowlers – most wickets

Wicket -Keepers

Fielders

Division 1

The race for the second promotion place to the Premier Division was, in many ways, everything the finale to the Premier Division season wasn’t. On Saturday morning Hampstead were the least likely side to be promoted with Harrow, who were already up as Division 1 champions.

But wow, in the most dramatic of circumstances, Hampstead stormed through from 4^th position to finish in 2^nd place after North London and Eastcote had weekends that will haunt them for many months to come.

Prior to the weekend North London needed just 1 point against Harrow, something they would have got had they reached 231, which would have been within 80% of Harrow’s first innings total of 288. Tasin Iqbal did his bit by scoring 80 and guiding his side to 153-4. But following Iqbal’s departure nerves seemed to get the better of North London as they slumped to 214 all out, a score that left them 17 runs short of the total that would have allowed them to pip Hampstead on the points accumulated in the head to head matches between the two sides.

North London’s loss left the door ajar for Eastcote to push through but the Hillingdon based side had an absolute shocker at Indian Gymkhana, where they were bowled out for 89 runs. All seemed under some sort of control for Eastcote until Indian Gymkhana’s Parminder Singh was introduced into the attack. Eastcote hade reached 62-3 before Singh dismissed Kabir Toor, but a setback became a complete shocker as they lost their last seven wickets for 26 runs, with Singh finishing with the remarkable figures of 5-6 in 5.5 overs. Eastcote’s bowlers had a go at trying to produce the impossible and took five Indian Gymkhana wickets before the home side reached 90 to win the game.

Hampstead hosted Barnes knowing they had to win and they did this quite comfortably after bowling their opponents out for 169. When the home side slipped to 26-2 there would have been a few nervous glances around the Hampstead dressing room but Alex Duguid and Aniket Parikh settled things down with half centuries. The pair made the result a formality as Hampstead cruised to a seven wicket win in 26 overs.

With an earlyish win and already knowing of Eastcote’s fate, the eyes – mobile phones – of Hampstead players and members would have turned to North London’s match at Harrow.. Tension would have been running high as North London’s Joe Kingsley-Smith and Tommy Pegler put on 30 runs for the 10^th wicket. Would they get to 231, the score they required to collect one valuable point.

Sadly for North London and the Hampstead cheers that resulted from Kingsley-Smith’s run out would have been heard in the bars of West End Lane, the place where some of their players may well have ended up.

The relegation dogfight would have been equally as tense with three teams fearing the drop to Division 2. Indian Gymkhana, on the back of their quick and decisive victory over Eastcote could quickly relax, which meant it was either Brondesbury or Acton that went down.

Brondesbury started the day in the 2^nd relegation position but they too gained a relatively early win by defeating Wycombe House by five wickets. Brondesbury’s win was set up by Aum Patel and Middlesex’s Nathan Fernandes, who shared six wickets for 49 runs as Wycombe were bowled out for 133. And it was Fernandes who safely guided Brondesbury to their win with a calm and calculated unbeaten half century.

Thew result was what Brondesbury needed but they were still not safe. To remain in Division 1 Acton had to lose. And, to Brondesbury’s huge relief they did. Acton would have been aware of their predicament half way through their attempt to score the 223 runs they needed to beat Harrow St Mary’s.

On passing 100 only three down Acton would have fancied their chances of staying up and sending Brondesbury down but the pressure of the situation obviously got to them as they lost regular wickets to eventually fall 18 runs short of their target.

The season will be a wake-up call for Brondesbury, historically one of the bigger clubs in Middlesex, whilst Acton and Barnes will be hoping to bounce straight back up in 2027.

Division 1 Champions - Harrow

Runners Up - Hampstead

Relegated - Barnes and Acton

Leading Division 1 Performers in 2026

Batters – most runs

Bowlers – most wickets

Wicket -Keepers

Fielders

Division 2

The final day of the 2026 cricket season in Division 2 was dominated by two matches. Fate would have it that the two teams competing for the 2^nd promotion position were playing against the two teams hoping to avoid the 2^nd relegation spot.

With Bessborough already glowing in their league winning promotion it was Brentham and Ealing Trailfinders that were attempting to join them in Division 1. Both clubs would have been looking to produce strong performances to set up a thrilling finale. But this failed to materialise as both Brentham and Ealing Trailfinders lost. The thrilling finale was not the consequence of excellent play from either of the potential promoted teams but by Trailfinders narrow defeat to West Harrow. The results meant that Brentham tripped rather than stormed into Division 1.

Brentham had a dreadful day with the bat, being bowled out for 87 by Southgate. James Dangerfield and Pasoon Rahman were the chief wicket-takers, claiming 6-37 between them. Southgate knocked off the runs in under 17 overs for the loss of 1 wicket.

The result and the early finish mean the eyes of both clubs turned to Headstone Manor Recreation Ground where West Harrow were hosting Trailfinders. The early finish at Brentham left both sides knowing what they needed to do. Trailfinders win and they are promoted; West Harrow win and they stay in Division 2.

The excellent bowling of Manav Khunt (5-27) was the principle reason for West harrow restricting Trailfinders 171 in their innings. And Trailfinders must have thought they had things wrapped up when they had reduced West Harrow to 49-6. Vipul Parmar and Muha Uddeen rallied West Harrow with a stand of 58 but 107-7 soon became 139-9. With 33 runs required for victory and safety Lahiru Diyantha joined Ronak Shaileshbhai Patel. And, somehow, the pair managed to get West Harrow past their target with 15 balls to spare.

The scoring of the winning runs would have been greeted by contrasting reactions at both venues. It would have been despair for Trailfinders and Southgate and unmitigated joy/relief for Brentham and West Harrow.

Division 2 Champions - Bessborough

Runners Up - Brentham

Relegated - London Tigers and Southgate

Leading Division 2 Performers in 2026

Batters – most runs

Bowlers – most wickets

Wicket -Keepers

Fielders

Division 3

Unfortunately for everyone involved in Division 3 there was no jeopardy going into the final weekend of the season. This was because all the major outcomes – champions, promotion and relegation – had already decided.

So, once again, congratulations to Harrow Town on winning the league and to Kay Plus for their promotion to Division 2. For Old Merchant Taylors’ and Old Isleworthians it is commiserations – it would be good to see you back in Division 3 soon.

Division 3 Champions - Harrow Town

Runners Up - Kay Plus

Relegated - Old Merchant Taylors and Old Isleworthians

Leading Division 3 Performers in 2026

Batters – most runs

Bowlers – most wickets

Wicket -Keepers

Fielders

Division 4

In Division 4 there was only one outcome that need to be decided on the final weekend of the season and that was who would be promoted as champions. The contest was between Alexandra Park and MTSSC, and it was the Muswell Hill side that triumphed.

Being 10 points ahead of MTSSC meant that Alexandra Park started Saturday as strong favourites to win the title, and they did so in style with a strong win over the already relegated Lanka Lions. There may have been some concern amongst the Alexandra Park dressing room at a couple of stages of their innings as they moved from 70-4 to 89-5 to 125-6 but a superb 131 run partnership between Will Howie (75*) and Tim Dethridge (66) enabled them to post a challenging total of 256-7 in their 45 overs.

And Lanka Lions were never in the chase, being bowled out for 175, a total that gave Alexandra Park a comfortable 81 run victory. Ewan Whorton was the pick of the Ally Pally bowlers, taking 3-24 in 6 overs.

It was just as well that Alexnadra Park won because MTSSC thumped North London Muslims in a relatively high scoring game. NLM posted 231 batting first but MTSSC knocked them off with aplomb in 28 overs for the loss of just five wickets.

So Alexandra Park and MTSSC can look forward to Division 3 cricket in 2027 whilst Lanka Lions and United Sports are in Division 5 with plenty of work to do. Between the two of them they won three games and collected 35 points.

Wembley may have not got promotion but in Smit Mehta they have certainly had the Division 4 player of the season. In the Division Mehta scored more runs (765) and took more wickets (53) than any other player, which is a remarkable achievement that deserves a mention.

Division 4 Champions - Alexandra Park

Runners Up - MTSSC

Relegated - United Sports and Lanka Lions

Leading Division 4 Performers in 2026

Batters – most runs

Bowlers – most wickets

Wicket -Keepers

Fielders

Division 5

There were plenty of permutations going into the final week of cricket in Division 5, and I will go through them one by one.

The first was who would be champions. Ealing Three Bridges had already secured season to season promotion but could they win their second consecutive Division title. Well, the answer was an emphatic YES as they secured a comfortable 43 run victory over New Calypsonians.

The remaining promotion related permutation would only become interesting if Actonians, the 2^nd placed side, were to lose to their promotion rivals London Desperados. London Desperados pushed Actonians hard but the Ealing based club prevailed to take a six wicket victory and the 10 points that ensured their place in Division 4 in 2027.

The result ended not only the hopes of London Desperados but also those of Perivale Phoenicians, who would have failed to go up had Actonians lost as they were heavily defeated in a game they had to win.

The Phoenicians defeat was to South Harrow, who desperately needed a win to avoid possible relegation. In the end South Harrow’s win was irrelevant as the side below them – Northwick Park – tied a match they had to win. So in the end it was Northwick Park who will join Ealing Hanwellians in Division 6 in 2027.

Division 5 Champions - Ealing Three Bridges

Runners Up - Actonians

Relegated - Ealing Hanwellians and Northwick Park

Leading Division 5 Performers in 2026

Batters

Bowlers

Wicket -Keepers

Fielders

Division 6

As was stated in last week’s preview, with United Sporting Club having already been promoted as Division 6 champions and Regents Park’s relegation known, the only outcome to be determined here was who will be the 2^nd promoted team. Elite and Swamibapa were the two teams competing for the spot and, after a nervous afternoon, it was Elite that managed to hang on to the 2^nd promotion place.

Swamibapa were not playing against Elite but they did all they could to put them under pressure by completing their last weekend victory in a game that lasted fewer than 40 overs. Swamibapa bowled Priory Park out for 97 and then knocked the runs off in just 11 overs.

That news would have been transmitted to Perivale Park and added pressure to Elite who, at the time, would have been chasing down Tamil United’s competitive first innings total of 190. And it appears the pressure did, for a short while, get to Elite. Prior to hearing the news that Swamibapa had won Elite were coasting to victory on 136-3. Then came what could have been a calamitous collapse as they lost five wickets for three runs to be reduced to 139-8, still 52 runs short of their target.

Then came the recovery, and it was two lower order batters Henil Patel (15*) and Ujjwal Thakor (28*) who got Elite back on track, seeing their side home to promotion with a two wicket victory in the 33 over.

Division 6 Champions - United Sporting Club

Runners Up - Elite

Relegated - Regents Park

Leading Division 6 Performers in 2026

Batters – most runs

Bowlers – most wickets

Wicket -Keepers

Fielders

Division 7

Those that have read previous previews will be aware that Division 7 finished on 29 August with Tower Hamlets, who returned to the MCCL after a few years absence, winning the Division. Congratulations to them and good luck next summer in Division 6

Division 7 Champions - Tower Hamlets

Leading Division 7 Performers in 2026

Batters – most runs

Bowlers – most wickets

Wicket -Keepers

Fielders