By David Slater
October 6 2004

As another season comes to an end, MTWD looks back on the season that was and the players and moments that made it one big rollercoaster. In the County Championship, the Londoners got off to a good start with two draws and a win putting them top of the table by mid-May. The highlights being a fantastic 6 wicket win over Surrey at Lord’s and 244 from Jamie Dalrymple at the Oval. Then the August wobble came early. Two heavy defeats followed each other and the team’s first division status looked threatened going into the Twenty20 Cup.

However, boosted by the presence of Glenn McGrath and a change of captain Middx secured back to back wins over Worcestershire and Kent. After a draw against Gloucestershire, Mushtaq Ahmed destroyed Middlesex at Lord’s providing relegation fears again. A draw to Northants followed before the return match at Hove. This match followed the course of the match between the two sides at Lord’s in 2003, with Middlesex looking out of the hunt for a long time but a brilliant century by Owais Shah gave the ‘sex an unlikely win, which also gave Warwickshire the title. Safety was confirmed a week later with a draw at home to Northants before a heavy defeat to Kent away rounded off the season.

In the Totesport League, the Crusaders achieved their aim of promotion, finishing top of the table despite an appalling run rate. The highlights of the season included a win away to the much-fancied Yorkshire, 22 off the last over from Lance Klusener to win the game at Trent Bridge, 6-37 from Simon Cook at Grace Road, and a D/L win over the Foxes, with them needing 135 from 20 overs, two days after clinching the Twenty20 Cup.

The C&G Trophy was a case of what could have been. A win away to Wales was followed by an easy win over Glamorgan, who went on to win the Totesport League First Division. That set up a quarter-final clash away to reigning champions Gloucestershire. Despite a poor start with the ball Middlesex fought back but lost control at the end as the hosts set a target of 240. The Middlesex reply never got going, despite a late rally from Simon Cook. Middlesex eventually fell 17 runs short of the target and Gloucestershire went on to retain their crown.

The less said about the Twenty20 Cup, the better. The Crusaders only won one match, against Essex. On the plus side, a crowd of 27,000 significantly boosted the clubs finances for the match at Lord’s against Surrey.

It was also a topsy turvey in terms of overseas players. Nantie Hayward started on his own before being joined by Lance Klusener in May. They were both selected for the South African tour to Sri Lanka in July/August and replaced by Ajit Agarkar, who became the first Indian international ever to play for the club and Glenn McGrath, who was later restricted to just two County Championship matches and four Totesport matches instead of the four CC and five TL matches planed. They stayed till Mid August before Hayward returned to partner Stuart Clark, an unknown, but highly successful Aussie bowler, recommended McGrath. If that wasn’t enough, Ashley Noffke (back injury) and Anil Kumble (failed to secure clearance) were forced to pull out of playing for the club a few months before the start of the year.

Given the changes voting for Overseas Player of the Year was a hard ask. In third place was AJIT AGARKAR who put in a few match turning performances, including 22-3 against Leicestershire at Lord’s. In second place was NANTIE HAYWARD. Hayward took 31 wickets in 11 County Championship matches at an average of 29.61 and will hope to improve on that in 2005. The winner was GLENN McGRATH. Despite only making a handful of appearances, McGrath impressed most with his attitude, providing a lot of inspiration for the rest of the team. Whilst with the ball he didn’t always fire, he played a vital role in the win over Kent.

It was also a crazy year in terms of captaincy. Club captain Andy Strauss missed the first few weeks of the season playing in the West Indies for England. He returned for a few weeks before being called into the England test side when Michael Vaughan was injured in training. He was never going to lose his place after scoring a century. Owais Shah acted as vice captain but proved unsuccessful in the role. Ed Joyce was given the vice captaincy but when he was injured, Ben Hutton took over. The captaincy will be reviewed in the close season following the news that Andy Strauss had been awarded with a central contract. Hutton and Joyce will surely lead the way in the battle for the job.

There were also several memorable matches, but three in particular stood out. In third place was the C&G last 16 match against Glamorgan at Lord’s. Set a target of 257 to win, things weren’t going well when Middlesex collapsed to 23/3. Step up Ed Joyce and Jamie Dalrymple. Joyce hit 100, Dalrymple 107 as Middlesex cruised to a 6-wicket win with 3.5 overs to spare. The fact that Glamorgan went on to win the Totesport first division proved how big a win that was. In second place was the win at Hove against Sussex in early September. This was expected to be the Mushtaq Ahmed show but didn’t turn out that way despite 4-66 in the first innings. In a low scoring contest, Middlesex were set 284 to win, the highest score of the match… and they reached it with 108 from Shah, 50 from Weekes and 49 from Koenig to secure an unlikely win

But in first place, if one match could sum up the whole season it would have to have been Middlesex v Surrey at Lord’s. For those who forget (or just want reminding), Surrey got off to a lightening start on the first day and was eventually all out for 418. Middlesex stuttered in reply eventually reaching 325. With roughly 5 sessions to go, Middlesex knew they were going to need something special and it happened in the form of Chad Keegan and Nantie Hayward. Surrey all out for 203; 297 to win. Ben Hutton lead the way with 88 as Middlesex reached their target with relative ease. It was this match that our panel voted moment of the year.

Before we go on to player of the year, we have the newcomer of the year award. In third place was NANTIE HAYWARD with 8% of the votes. Hayward earned himself a recall to the South African test side with a solid season for the club. In second place was MEL BETTS with 10%. Betts had a topsy turvy year, being brilliant at sometimes and problematic at others. Despite that he has become a vital part of the team, largley due to injuries.

But in first place was BEN SCOTT with a mamoth 80%. Scott signed with high ratings from John Embury and play a vital part in securing promotion in the Totesport League. His year ended in great style with his first ever first class century against Northants at Lord's.

That brings us on to Player of the Year. Never has this site seen so many voters for one poll. 86 of you took the time to vote. And this is how you voted:

In third place, with 14% of the votes was OWAIS SHAH. Owais scored 1,280 runs in the championship at an average of 53.33 and 561 in the Totesport League, as well as taking a vital wicket in the Championship win over Kent. His good form, despite losing the captaincy earned him a contract with the England Academy squad.

In second came PAUL WEEKES. The veteran taking 35% of all votes. Weekes was a sensation in the Totesport League scoring 807 runs, the highest run scorer in both leagues. He also took 12 wickets at an average of 39.08 with the ball. He proved no slouch in the County Championship either, scoring 1,001 runs at an average of 43.52 and taking 26 wickets at an average of 44.84.

In first place came SIMON COOK who took 43% of votes. Despite looking likely to struggle to get a game at the start of the year, Cook not only earned his place in the side, he excelled in his new role of strike bowler, taking 39 Totesport League wickets (just missing out on the all time record) (average 15.35) and 34 in the Championship (29.64). With the bat he scored 243 runs in the championship from 14 innings and 62 in the Totesport League from 10 innings. Cook has no signed for Kent and will leave a big hole in the side, that Embury will be very keen to fill.


Role of Honour:

MTWD player of the year:
1st) Simon Cook (43%)
2nd) Paul Weekes (35%)
3rd) Owais Shah (14%)

MTWD overseas player of the year:
1st) Glenn McGrath (41%)
2nd) Nantie Hayward (31%)
3rd) Ajit Agarkar (14%)

MTWD newcomer of the year
1st) Ben Scott (80%)
2nd) Mel Betts (10%)
3rd) Nantie Hayward (8%)

MTWD match of the year:
1st) Middlesex v Surrey, 21-24/04/04 44%
2nd) Sussex v Middlesex, 4-7/09/04 28%
3rd) Middlesex v Glamorgan, 29/05/04 19%

MTWD moments of the year (selected by a panel):
Beating Surrey at Lord’s in the County Championship
Winning the Totesport League Division Two title.
Andy Strauss scoring a century on his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s.