"First and foremost, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all Middlesex members and supporters for their support throughout 2024.
"As we approach the festive season and the end of the year, it’s a time to reflect on the year that’s behind us and an opportunity to begin to look forward to what 2025 may hold with hope and optimism, which is a fitting way for me to structure this festive message to you.
"2024 will most likely be remembered by many members as a year when the Men’s side missed out on promotion back into the Championship top-flight, which was undoubtedly the year’s biggest disappointment and is something that we will be working hard to put right in 2025, however there was plenty of success around the Club that we should also quite rightly celebrate.
"The Sunrisers lifting the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, our D40 First Eleven winning the national Disability Quest Championship, or D40 Second Eleven reaching the final of the Disability Pursuit Championship, our Women’s side topping the London Championship table, our EPG Under 18s reaching the national final of the ECB Under 18s County Cup, and the Middlesex in the Community team delivering life-changing projects in each of the seventeen boroughs across the county are just a few of the great things we were able to witness and enjoy in 2024.
"We said goodbye to some well-known faces at the Club, with several players’ time at Middlesex coming to an end, whilst conversely, we’ve welcomed some new talent into the Club in the hope that they will help bring us the success we aspire to achieve in 2025 and beyond.
"There are fresh new starts for three of our own Academy youngsters, as Aaryan Sawant, Naavya Sharma and Sebastian Morgan all take their first steps as contracted professional cricketers, and the Women’s squad, under the new leadership of full-time Women’s Head Coach Marc Broom, begin an exciting journey as a Tier Two side, with their sights set firmly on achieving professional status as a Tier One side in the future.
"We took ownership of Swyncombe Avenue Sports Ground, a site designated as the new home of Women and Girls’ cricket for Middlesex, which is undergoing development as we speak, to provide our Women and Girls with the perfect platform to drive towards their Tier One goal.
"Off the field, the challenges the Club has faced over recent seasons are subsiding, and we are working hard to build a better future together for the Club, with the prospect of exciting change coming in the form of the ECB’s process to secure external investment into the eight Hundred franchises. This will likely be a game-changing evolution of the games financial landscape, and we will do all in our power to ensure that members are kept abreast of the latest developments on this subject and that your priorities are considered at all times.
"Given all this, when you look at what’s been achieved in 2024, we should rightly be proud of our success around the Club and of the fact that significant steps have been made to progress the Club to a better place for the future.
"Looking ahead to 2025, I genuinely feel that we can do so with optimism and hope, and that the brighter future we all desperately want is an achievable aim.
"I would like to thank all our members, our supporters, our partners and sponsors, our staff and our Board, as without us all working together, we wouldn’t be in the place we are now.
"Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful festive period, when I hope you get to spend some time relaxing with family, friends and loved ones, and we look forward to seeing you back in 2025 for what we hope will be a year to remember for all involved in Middlesex Cricket."
Andrew Cornish
Chief Executive Officer
