User:20MBM02/sandbox

Honours

First XI

• Scottish County Championship (15) – 1902, 1905, 1906 (shared), 1910, 1911, 1920, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1950, 1951, 1957, 1973, 1981, 1992
• Eastern Premier League (1) - 2019
• Cricket Scotland Grand Final (1) - 2019
• Scottish Cup (4) - 1968, 1994, 2022, 2023
• T20 Scottish Cup (4) - 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023
• Eastern Championship (1) - 2013

Second XI (Forthill)

• SPCU First Tier (2) - 1940, 2015
• SPCU Second Tier (3) - 1990, 1994, 2011

Other honours

• Strathmore Union Three Counties Cup (7) - 1938, 1940, 1955, 1957, 1981, 2008, 2017
• Strathmore Union Two Counties Cup (5) - 1980, 1984, 2008, 2014, 2015

Early cricket in Dundee

Cricket has been played in Dundee since at least the 1830s...

Although cricket had been played in Dundee since at least the 1830s, no club had the luxury of a dedicated pitch to play on. Magdalen Green was a popular location before playing cricket on the public park was effectively banned in the mid 19th century.

History

Origin

In June 1879...

The club was formed officially in June 1879 after George M. Cox, a member of the Cox family which owned Camperdown Works, gathered enough support and funds totalling £300 to form the first cricket club in Dundee or surrounding area which was to have ownership of its own ground. Suitable land was acquired on the then-outskirts of the burgh of Broughty Ferry. A pavilion was built for the opening of the new ground and debut match in 1880; this structure was replaced by a new pavilion financed by club captain W.R. Sharp in 1898.

The club took its name from the official title of the county of Angus at the time. Cox, who played for Marchbanks CC in Lochee as well as Perthshire before the creation of the new club, wanted to emulate the success of the Perth-based team in his home town.

Early years

Sharp and Higgins, development of rivalry with Perthshire

In the first few years of its existence, Forfarshire fielded a poorer team than its neighbours in Perth or Aberdeen. The early professionals brought to the club were highly-regarded players, but not of the calibre required to drive the team to successfully challenge the other county sides.

The arrival of new professional Pat Higgins, a native of Yorkshire?, in 1883 was seen as a step forward. Although he regarded his first season as poor, having admitted to underestimating the quality of Scottish cricket, he was offered the opportunity to return as professional for the 1884 season, an association with the club which would last a total of 33 years.

In 1885, a new captain in Dundee-born William Ritchie (W. R.) Sharp was appointed. His leadership skills, along with his excellent cricketing ability, allowed the team to flourish under his stewardship. The partnership of Sharp and Higgins over the next quarter of a century became one of the most successful and enduring in the history of Scottish cricket.

In the years since cricket was first played competitively in Scotland, no rivalry has been more fierce than that of Forfarshire and Perthshire. The relatively close proximity of the clubs drew large away crowds to the new fixtures. Perthshire was over 50 years older and had been expected to be the dominant team but Forfarshire soon became a competitive side. Of the 22 matches played between 1880 and 1890, Forfarshire and Perthshire had won seven times each, eight other matches were drawn.

The development of the rivalry meant matches between the two clubs became some of the most anticipated domestic ties on the Scottish cricket calendar. Eventually, derby attendances grew, especially at Forthill, to well over 10,000 on a regular basis.

Golden era

1902-1914, crowds of ~20,000 at Forthill

The formation of the County Championship was fundamental to Forfarshire's expansion in the early 20th century. The prominence of the derby with Perthshire grew to become the most important matches of the year. Crowds of over 20,000 attended Forthill, with extra trains between Broughty Ferry and Perth being scheduled on match days to accommodate the large numbers of away supporters.

The winning run or wicket of the inter-county derbies was often followed by pitch invasions; several times Forfarshire players were carried off the pitch to the pavilion on the shoulders of celebrating fans.

As was the case at Forthill, large crowds attended derby matches in Perth. In 1903, while playing a derby match against Perthshire at their home ground on the North Inch, a temporary stand holding nearly 500 spectators collapsed, injuring more than 150 people.

Interwar period

The four years of disruption due to the First World War took its toll on Scottish cricket, with the county championship not returning until 1920. The club's professional in place before the war, Claude Buckenham, returned to the club in 1919 and aided the club in winning the 1920 championship.

Several high-profile professionals played for the club in the interwar period, including Gordon Hodgson for the 1935-36 seasons, who previously played for Lancashire and was also an England international footballer who played for Liverpool at the time.

The club won the county championship again in 1928, 1930 and 1932.

Post-war

Back-to-back county wins in 1950-51. Jack Dyson as pro after disciplinary issues with Lancashire.

Following the Second World War, the club were without a professional for one year. In 1947, former Middlesex player Bill Etherington was signed. In May, the decision was made to trial a 'Talent Money' system which saw Etherington awarded a bonus for more than five wickets taken, as well as for scoring 50 or 100 runs in a match. Despite the financial incentives presented to him, Etherington never settled in Scotland. After a difficult spell with illness, including recurring symptoms of malaria, he was forced to resign and returned to London in late July. The club was unable to fund a replacement and again went without a professional for a large part of the season.

The club went without domestic success for several years after the War, before winning the County Championship in two successive years in 1950 and 1951. Following another barren spell, Forfarshire again won the championship in 1957.

Later county years

Decrease in attendances (5,000 was the average at Forthill until the early 60s). No pro for 19 years with the club struggling financially. Despite this: Scottish cup '68, league success in '73 and '81. Pros coming from Australia. Last of the founding counties to win the championship in 1992 before its dissolution in '95.

Despite the draw of cricket not being nearly as strong as it had been in the inter-war period, and the club's status far-diminshed from its golden years in the early part of the 20th century, the average attendance at Forthill was thought to be 5,000 until the early 1960s, when attendances slumped to all-time lows. Without the financial benefits of paying spectators, the club was forced to make long-term cuts to several areas, including no longer employing a professional each year.

The 1960s was as difficult a decade on the pitch as it was in the boardroom, with Forfarshire's rivals Perthshire winning the County Championship in eight out of ten years. Some success was found, however, in the fledgling Scottish Cup, which was won by the club in 1968.

In 1973, Forfarshire stopped Perthshire from winning an eighth consecutive championship, winning the league for the first time in 16 years. The club would then wait another eight years, until 1981, to win the championship. It was in this season that the first professional since Jack Dyson in 1962 was signed, this time the Australian Andrew Hilditch.

The club's final Championship success was in 1992. Of the three most successful clubs in Scottish county cricket, Forfarshire's victory was the last; neither Perthshire nor Aberdeenshire would win the league again before it was dissolved after the 1995 season.

After county cricket

Forfarshire was placed in the Second Division of the new SNCL due to its poor league finish in the final county championship the previous year. (CHECK)

After spending seven seasons in the lower leagues, the club was promoted to the Premier Division for the 2003 season. This proved to be a short stay, with Forfarshire relagated back to the second tier in 2004. Another five years would pass before the club was again promoted.

In the final season of the SNCL in 2011, Forfarshire achieved its best finish in the tournament, third place out of the 16 teams in the final iteration of the league. The SNCL was subsequently disbanded and is now largely seen as a failed experiment which weakened the standing of Scottish domestic cricket.

Present day

Eastern Premier League and Scottish Cup success, participation in T10 European competition through winning the T20 Scottish Cup.

In recent years, Forfarshire have won several honours, including the T20 Scottish Cup and the Eastern Premier League in 2019. Winning the league meant the opportunity to play in the Cricket Scotland League Grand Final against the winner of the Western Premier League. Forfarshire beat their opponents, Uddingston, crowning them 2019 Scottish champions.

In 2023 Michael Leask became the club's first professional in a number of years, having already been playing for the club as an amateur.

This was followed by two successive cup doubles, winning the Scottish Cup and T20 Scottish Cup in 2022 and 2023.

By winning the T20 Scottish Cup, Forfarshire gained a place in the T10 European Cricket League, hosted at the Cártama Oval Cricket Ground in Spain. The club was first scheduled to compete in the tournament in 2020 after winning the T20 Scottish cup the previous year but the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 the club came second in its group table and was knocked out.

Forfarshire's tournament in 2024 was more successful, qualifying from the initial group stage to contest matches in the second group stage. After winning only one game, the club was again eliminated.

In 2024 the club finished in third place in the Eastern Premier League. Due to representatives failing to submit captain's reports, Forfarshire was deducted five points in the final table.

Professionals

Since the club's formation, Forfarshire has had many professionals at the club. During the halcyon years of Scottish county cricket from 1902 to 1914, Forfarshire employed at least two professionals. For several years there were three professionals: veteran Pat Higgins and his two understudies, former Nottinghamshire player George Chambers and Scotland-capped Billy Ringrose.

Forfarshire's first overseas professional was Dickie Fuller, a Jamaican who played several matches for his home nation as well as one test for the West Indies. He played three seasons between 1949 and 1951. Alf Pope was then signed as professional until 1956. The following year, the club again looked to the West Indies and signed Barbadian player Clairmonte Depeiaza who also played for the club for three seasons.

Ceylonese player Bob Bartels was employed for one season followed by Lancashire player, and FA Cup-winning footballer, Jack Dyson. Dyson had left Lancashire after disciplinary action and his signing by Forfarshire was seen as a major coup.

Jack Dyson left to return to Lancashire in 1962 and following this, due to monetary constraints, no professional was employed by the club for a period of 19 years. By the time the club's financial outlook had improved, Scottish teams could no longer compete for English players. This led the club to begin to look overseas once again, this time to Australia and India.

In 2005, Ryan Watson was employed as the club's professional, the first Scotland-capped player in this role since English-born Billy Ringrose played for Scotland in 1912.

List

Name Period Ref Charles Keeping 1880 Peter Pullan 1881 Joe Todd 1882 Pat Higgins 1883-1915 George Chambers 1900-1903 1906-1911 Harry Bettison 1904 Albert Mortimer 1905 A. Drury 1906 Billy Ringrose 1907-1912 Joe Winyard 1913-1914 Claude Buckenham 1914 1919-1920 Hugh Claughton 1922-1923 1926-1927 Frederick Hyland 1925 George Wilson 1928-1931 Frank Smailes 1931-1932 Bill Andrews 1932-1934 Gordon Hodgson 1935-1936 Jim Cutmore 1936 Harold Greenwood 1937

Name Period Ref George Lavis 1938-1939 Bill Etherington 1947 Tony Mills 1948 Dickie Fuller 1949-1951 Alf Pope 1952-1956 Clairmonte Depeiaza 1957-1959 Bob Bartels 1960 Jack Dyson 1961-1962 Andrew Hilditch 1981 Steve Bernard 1982 1985 Gary Whitaker 1984 Shishir Hattangadi 1987-1990 Simon Mann 1992 Richard Chee Quee 1993 Peter Drinnen 1994-2003 Luke Gleeson 2004 Ryan Watson 2005-2006 Tom Cooper 2008 Kelby Pickering 2009-2010 Michael Leask 2023

Timeline

Sponsorship

Year	Kit Manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor
2006	None	Deuchars IPA
2007
2008
2009
2010	Canterbury	None
2011
2012
2013	Adidas	Autoecosse
2014
2015
2016
2017		Tayside Group
2018
2019	Gray-Nicolls	ION8
2020
2021
2022		DC Consulting
2023		ABP Food Group
2024
2025

Current squad

The Middlesex squad for the current 2025 English cricket season:

• No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
• ‡ denotes players with international caps.

No.	Name	Nationality	Age	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
4	Max Holden*	England	(1997-12-18) 18 December 1997	Left-handed	Right-arm off break
All-rounders
16	Michael Leask	Scotland	35	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
Wicket-keepers
17	Jack Davies	England	(2000-03-30) 30 March 2000	Left-handed	—
Bowlers
7	Tom Helm*	England	(1994-05-07) 7 May 1994	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium

Source:

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