The Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL) is the only adult Saturday league for recreational club cricket in the historic county of Middlesex, England. 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.List of ECB Premier Leagues
Four MCCL clubs have won the ECB National Club Cricket Championship: Enfield (1988), Hampstead (1969), Southgate (1977), and Teddington (1989 and 1991). Ealing have won the ECB National Club Twenty20 twice (2011 and 2015).
History The MCCL was officially founded in 1972, after holding a 'dry run' in 1971 to ensure that the league's launch went smoothly. 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. Nine of the ten clubs who are expected to play in the Premier Division in 2024 were among these founder 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.
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.
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. 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.
Winners Middlesex County Cricket League since 1972 YearClub+ League Champions 1972 Hornsey 1973 Finchley 1974 South Hampstead 1975 Finchley 1976 Southgate 1977 Southgate 1978 Finchley 1979 Finchley 1980 Finchley 1981 Hornsey 1982 Enfield 1983 Stanmore 1984 Teddington 1985 Teddington 1986 Enfield 1987 Finchley 1988 South Hampstead 1989 Richmond 1990 North Middlesex 1991 Ealing
YearClub+ League Champions 1992 Finchley 1993 Finchley 1994 Finchley 1995 Teddington 1996 Teddington 1997 Ealing 1998 Richmond 1999 Brondesbury 2000 Brondesbury 2001 Ealing 2002 Teddington 2003 Brondesbury 2004 Richmond 2005 Ealing 2006 Ealing 2007 Ealing 2008 Ealing 2009 Ealing 2010 Ealing 2011 Ealing
YearClub+ League Champions 2012 Winchmore Hill 2013 Hampstead 2014 Teddington 2015 Hampstead 2016 Teddington 2017 Ealing 2018 Richmond 2019 North Middlesex 2020 Teddington 2021 Crouch End 2022 Teddington 2023 Stanmore 2024 Ealing 2025 North Middlesex 2026 Crouch End
Source:
Performance by season from 1999
Key Gold Champions Blue Left League Red Relegated
+ Performance by season, from 1999 Club 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 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 9 2 10 Crouch End 7 1 3 4 3 5 1 Ealing 1 4 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 7 7 6 1 8 9 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 10 8 9 5 Hampstead 9 7 5 3 3 3 4 5 8 6 1 6 1 6 5 6 2 5 8 6 9 10 Harrow St Mary's 10 9 Highgate 10 Hornsey 9 5 8 9 10 7 7 2 Ickenham 10 Indian Gymkhana 10 North Middlesex 5 5 2 3 3 1 6 2 5 5 4 1 8 Richmond 10 8 2 6 1 6 8 9 10 9 5 7 2 3 4 1 6 2 6 9 6 6 4 Shepherds Bush 8 9 7 6 5 4 3 4 2 3 2 2 6 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 4 1 8 4 7 Teddington 6 3 4 1 4 8 4 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 6 1 8 1 2 4 5 1 3 1 7 5 3 3 Twickenham 7 10 4 2 6 9 7 8 10 5 8 10 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 References
References