10 best players of all time from Middlesex

Founded in 1864 and tracing its history back to the 18th century, Middlesex is one of the oldest county cricket teams in England. It plays its home games at England's finest cricket stadium, Lord's, and has been one of the most successful county teams in English domestic cricket over the years.

Over the course of its glittering cricketing history, some of the best players in the world have played first-class cricket for the team and made the County Championships one of the most competitive domestic cricketing competitions in the world.

Here is a look at 10 of the best ever players from Middlesex:

10 Jack Robertson

Jack Robertson (extreme left) loses his wicket

Jack Robertson was a right-handed opening batsman who played for Middlesex between 1937 and 1959 and proved to be one of the best batsmen in the county circuit throughout the course of his career.

Robertson scored 27,088 runs for the county in his career and stands 4th in the all-time list of run scorers for Middlesex. Robertson's run-scoring did earn him a call-up to the English national team and in the 11 Tests that he played, he averaged 46.36 and made two centuries.

However, he was inexplicably dropped after he had scored a century against Australia and never made it back into the side. That being said, his distinguished 22 years career for Middlesex makes him one of the best batsmen to have played for the county.

9 Phil Edmonds

Left-arm orthodox spinner Phil Edmonds came into prominence with the cricket team at Cambridge University and by 1971, he had made his debut for Middlesex in first-class cricket.

Edmonds proved to be an excellent player for Middlesex over the next 21 years and reigned as one of the best spinners on the English domestic circuit.

In a first-class career that spanned 391 games, he picked up 1246 wickets at an average of 25.66, while on the other hand, he did quite well in the 301 List A games with a haul of 323 wickets. Edmonds' great show for Middlesex earned him a call to the national side as well and he went on to play 51 Test for England.

He picked up 125 wickets in his international career and also scored 2 fifties. There is no doubt that he was one of Middlesex's finest.

8 Bill Edrich

Edrich At The Oval

Right-handed batsman Bill Edrich was known for his attacking batsmanship and after playing for Norfolk in minor leagues in his teenage years, he joined Middlesex in 1937.

Even at the age of 21, Edrich showed his class as a batsman and piled up in excess of 2000 runs in his first season with Middlesex.

From then on, he continued his brilliant run-scoring over the next 22 years and scored 25,738 runs in total for Middlesex in first-class cricket. In his entire first-class career, Edrich averaged 42.39 and scored 86 centuries. His excellent show also earned him a call-up to the England team and Edrich played 39 Tests, in which he averaged exactly 40.

7 John Emburey

John Emburey of England

Right arm off-spinner John Emburey made a formidable spin combination with Phil Edmonds for much of the 1970s and 1980s, as Middlesex became one of the best sides in the County Championships.

Emburey was primarily known for his ability to keep things tight with his accuracy and the ability to play on the patience of the batsman. Using these methods, he became one of Middlesex's best spinners and ended up as one of their highest wicket-takers with a tally of 1250 wickets. His arm-ball that seemed to swing in the air was one of his most devastating variations.

Emburey also played 64 Test matches for England and picked up 147 wickets at an average of 38.40. His excellent record for Middlesex, however, makes him one of the best players in the county's history.

6 Mike Brearley

Mike Brearley

It is often said that Mike Brearley was perhaps the best captain in the history of the game and his ingenious tactics often helped England in completing remarkable victories. However, the opening batsman honed his skills as a cricketer and leader at Middlesex, a team he captained with much success for 11 years from 1971 and 1982.

Brearley joined Middlesex in 1961 and proved to be one of the best batsmen in the side for the next twenty-odd years. In his entire first-class career, he scored 45 centuries and piled up 25,186 runs at an average of 37.81. For England, he played 39 Test matches.

However, for Middlesex, his greatness lies in the fact that he led the county to 4 County Championship wins during his tenure as captain and for that reason alone, he will always be considered among the greatest players to have played for them.

5 Angus Fraser

Angus Fraser

Although he was born in Lancashire, the seat of one of English cricket's greatest county teams, Angus Fraser played for Middlesex and went on to become one of England's top fast bowlers in the 1990s.

Fraser's accurate bowling, coupled with disconcerting bounce and just the right amount of seam movement, made him a very difficult bowler to face. In addition to that, he was a workhorse and could bowl long spells.

He first debuted for Middlesex in 1984 and continued to play for the next 18 years, during the course of which he became the team's top bowler.

In his first-class career, Fraser picked up 886 wickets at an average of 27.40, while in List A cricket he played 336 games and claimed 392 victims at an average of 26.49. He is one of the giants of Middlesex cricket.

4 Andrew Strauss

England v India - 1st Test Day Three

The former England captain, who captained the team to two Ashes victories and oversaw one of the most successful periods in the team's history, was also one of Middlesex's leading batsmen for around 13 years (1998-2012). Andrew Strauss was an opening batsman par excellence and had the ability to play both spin and pace with equal ease.

In addition to that, his abilities as an excellent stroke maker was also a factor behind his excellent record in first-class cricket. In his entire first-class career, he played 241 games and scored 17.046 runs at an excellent average of 42.72.

Strauss also piled up 46 centuries and 74 half-centuries. He could not quite replicate that success in List A cricket, but he still scored 7631 runs and there is no doubt that Strauss is one of the finest batsmen to have ever played for Middlesex.

3 Fred Titmus

Fred Titmus

Right arm off-spinner and all-rounder Fred Titmus was the youngest cricketer to have played for Middlesex when he made his debut for the team back in 1949 at the age of 16.

By the time he finished in 1982, he had played a record 642 times for the county and ended up as its highest ever wicket-taker with a tally of 2361 wickets. Additionally, he has also piled up in excess of 20,000 runs in his appearances for Middlesex in first-class cricket.

Titmus was a spin bowler of rare gift and went on to play 53 Test matches for England in his distinguished career. Although he batted lower down the order, he had the requisite skills to be classified as an all-rounder and his first-class record is compelling proof that his gifts as a batsman are often underplayed.

2 Mike Gatting

Mike Gatting

Former England captain and one of the team's key players, Mike Gatting may not have been the most gifted of batsmen, but he made the most of his talent to forge an excellent international career.

However, in the domestic game, he played at a different level altogether, scoring heavily right from the time he first played for Middlesex in 1975.

He went on to play for the team till 1998 and ended as the second highest run scorer in its history with an incredible total of 28,411 runs. Gatting captained the county for 14 years from 1983 to 1997 as well, and is considered one of the true greats of Middlesex.

1 Denis Compton

Compton Bats

Legendary English cricketer Denis Compton is among the greatest batsmen to have ever played for his country and without a doubt, the greatest batsman to have ever picked up a bat for Middlesex.

Compton played for Middlesex from 1936 to the end of his career in 1958 and in the interim, he became the nation's best batsman and enthralled crowds with his scintillating strokeplay that captured the imagination of cricket fans all across England.

He scored 21,781 runs for Middlesex and in his entire first-class career, he recorded an average of 51.85. Compton was equally impressive for England and in 78 Test matches, he scored 5807 runs at an outstanding average of 50.06.

He was Middlesex's greatest player, and went on to achieve greatness on the biggest stage with England.