Middlesex continue to operate under sanctions imposed for breaches of financial regulations and that includes restrictions on their ability to recruit players. This is despite the club showing a net profit of £131,000 for the financial year ending November 2023, in the black for the first time since 2016, the year they last won the County Championship. They went the season without an overseas player for any of the competitions and should be credited for their performance in the Championship, falling just short of promotion. Middlesex and Yorkshire both ended with five wins and two losses, but Middlesex were let down by their first innings performances, accumulating 13 fewer batting bonus points and eight fewer bowling points. It was the same story in 2023 when they posted just five batting points.
Halfway through the season Middlesex were second in Division Two, nine points ahead of Leicestershire and 24 points ahead of Yorkshire, who were winless in seventh place. However from that point on Yorkshire won five games and Middlesex three. The failure to gain promotion will be a huge disappointment, particularly given the recurring failures in the white ball competitions.
Ryan Higgins was again the standout performer making 1133 Championship runs and taking 30 wickets at 28.60, second only to Toby Roland-Jones. Max Holden had a much improved season from 2023, when he averaged just 19.00. This year he scored 981 runs at 49.05 and Leus du Plooy made 955 at 50.26. With Sam Robson on 872 it was not the number of runs, but the timing of them that let Middlesex down.
It was the same with the wickets, the evergreen Roland-Jones taking 52 in the Championship at 22.55. Ethan Bamber took 30 along with Higgins, but his were a little more expensive at 37.03 runs each. Tom Helm’s 23 wickets were also costly at 41.08 and they just needed another bowler taking his wickets with an average in the twenties.
Luke Hollman and Joshua De Caires provided the spin threat. Hollman captured 24 wickets, whilst De Caires only took six at 89.33 compared with 27 at 25.59 in 2023.
In the Vitality Blast Middlesex finished in eighth in the South Group. They were clearly not helped by the absence of any overseas reinforcements, managing just three wins, one of those against the eventual winners, Gloucestershire. Hollman took three for 37 on that evening at Cheltenham and finished as the team’s highest wicket taker with 23. Blake Cullen was next with 11, but was a little expensive, going at 9.71 runs per over. Runs were a little hard to come by and Martin Andersson was the highest run scorer with 282.
Middlesex lost five players to the Hundred, perhaps a surprising number given their T20 woes. They managed just three wins in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, finishing sixth in Group A. Again runs were at a premium, although they did chase down 318 to beat Northamptonshire. Mark Stoneman captained the side in this competition and made 83 in that match, finishing the second highest run scorer for the club with 266 at 44.33. 20-year-old Nathan Fernandes also scored 83 in what was a promising season for the youngster. Joe Cracknell led the run scoring with 306.
They were lacking a real threat with the ball in a competition where taking wickets is the only way to keep scoring in check. Hollman again led the way with 12 wickets in the competition, while Henry Brookes took 10 at 27.10.
Results
Vitality CC: Third in Division Two
Vitality Blast: Eighth in South Group
Metro Bank ODC: Sixth in Group A
Leading run-scorers
Vitality CC: Ryan Higgins 1133 at 70.81
Vitality Blast: Martin Andersson 282 at 28.20; Strike rate 134.28
Metro Bank ODC: Joe Cracknell 306 at 43.71; Strike rate 83.83
Leading wicket-takers
Vitality CC: Toby Roland-Jones 52 at 22.55
Vitality Blast: Luke Hollman 23 at 12.56; Economy rate 7.81
Metro Bank ODC: Luke Hollman 12 at 29.00; Economy rate 5.11
Player of the season
Ryan Higgins again!
He was the player of the season last year and our nominated key player in the season preview. He delivers with bat and ball and while year after year he is at the top of the Championship batting and bowling averages, an England call up has always seemed a way off. He is probably a bit quicker than he seems with the ball, but tends to be put in the Darren Stevens bracket of bowlers. However Higgins has still not reached 30 so there might still be time.
Breakthrough Player
Nathan Fernandes made his Middlesex debut in last year’s Blast, playing as a slow left arm spinner, but this season found himself batting at the top of the order in the warm up games and has found a place as a batter rather than a bowler. Born in Goa, the 20-year-old’s family moved to the UK when he was seven and he has come up through the Middlesex age group system.
He made his first class debut in the second game of the season against Northamptonshire, replacing the injured Robson at the top of the order and went on to score 103 in the first innings. He played seven further games in which he scored another 251 runs, including a half century, to finish with an average of 29.50. He was less successful in the One Day Cup, making just 152 runs at 21.71. He also took four wickets at 63.00, but did not feature in the Blast.
With the departure of Mark Stoneman it will be interesting to see if he is seen as a new partner for Robson.
Could have done better
Steve Eskinazi seems to have morphed into primarily a white ball batter, but he failed to impress in either of the short format competitions this summer. He scored just 164 runs in nine innings in the Blast and only featured on two occasions for the Welsh Fire, making 58 runs.
He turned out five times in the Championship scoring 123 runs at 30.75. At 30 years of age he will be hoping to regain the form he demonstrated a couple of years ago.
Need to work on
The problems for Middlesex are as much off the field as on it, not helped by having Lord’s as their home ground. There was the odd scenario of them playing two of their home Blast fixtures at Chelmsford, deemed financially more beneficial than using an outground.
They desperately need to find a way to be more competitive in the white ball competitions, particularly the Blast. They have not made finals day since they won the title in 2008 and have only played in two quarter finals since then. As it is, they have regularly been at or near the bottom of the South Group.
What’s next?
Bamber and Andersson are moving to Warwickshire and Derbyshire respectively and Stoneman has been released. Meanwhile 23-year-old middle order batter Ben Geddes moves across the river from Surrey. Bamber is a significant loss having bowled almost 350 overs in this year’s Championship campaign, playing in 12 matches. Middlesex will be hoping to go one step further and secure promotion, but ambitions may have to be tempered if they cannot afford to strengthen the squad.
Season Rating
Promotion would have made up for the failings in white ball cricket, but the missed opportunity could cause a hangover into 2025.
Mark: 6/10
