A group of the most distinguished players in Middlesex’s history have called for action in an attempt to arrest the decline of one of the most famous counties in English cricket.

Middlesex have endured a tumultuous few years of under-performance on the field and financial crisis and scandal off it that has led to doubts over their long-term future playing at Lord’s.

Now a group of ex-players, led by former England captain Mike Gatting and including club legends and internationals in John Emburey, Mark Ramprakash, Desmond Haynes, Mike Selvey and Clive Radley, have released an open letter calling for action at the Middlesex AGM on April 15.

In the letter, seen by The Athletic, the former players urge the 7,000 Middlesex members to attend the meeting at Lord’s and seek answers to the club’s growing problems.

“As former players of Middlesex we have become increasingly disturbed at the way the club has been allowed to sink to its current level,” says the letter about a club now firmly ensconced in the second division of the County Championship and with little recent white-ball success.

“Middlesex was once a byword for excellence in the game, a club with a proud history of success and a strong, competitive culture brought about by hard work on and off the pitch. Instead, around the counties, the men’s teams now are variously regarded as a ‘soft touch’ and ‘lacking fight.’

“The club has been poorly led for too long. Middlesex is first and foremost a cricket club but the leadership lacks any real cricketing knowledge. The cricket administration is structurally a mess, is devoid of accountability and lacks proper checks and balances.

“The players are a product of their environment and in areas where the standard of coaching has been poor, they have not been sufficiently challenged, resulting in inadequate standards to compete at the level to which we should aspire becoming the norm.”

Middlesex captain Mike Gatting lifts the 1988 Natwest trophy (Getty Images)

Middlesex have a long and distinguished history, winning 11 County Championship titles outright and sharing two others. They have also won eight limited-overs titles, but such has been their decline that the last of their many honours came 10 years ago.

In that last decade they have been gripped by off-field problems and were first plunged into disarray more than four years ago with the discovery of an error in pension payments that ended up costing the county a six-figure sum and compounded losses triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since then Middlesex have three times been investigated by the Cricket Regulator, an independent disciplinary and compliance body set up by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2022 after its governance system was criticised by MPs following complaints of racism by former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq.

In September 2023 Middlesex were fined £50,000 ($66,000) and given a suspended points deduction by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC), the body that hears cases after charges are brought by the regulator, after being found guilty of spending central funding allocated for grassroots cricket on its first team.

In June 2024 the club was charged by the regulator after receiving complaints about the alleged behaviour of a senior member of staff but Middlesex were subsequently cleared of improper conduct following a disciplinary hearing by the CDC.

Then, last November, Middlesex CEO Andrew Cornish took leave of absence from the club when the Cricket Regulator began an investigation into an allegation of misconduct made by another member of staff. Cornish has denied any wrong-doing.

In January the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), who act as Middlesex’s landlords as the owners of Lord’s, seconded its membership secretary Mahdi Choudhury to provide some leadership experience to Middlesex while Cornish is investigated.

The call to arms from ex players to members comes at a time when Middlesex are exploring demutualisation — ceasing to be member-owned — in order to secure financing for a home away from Lord’s where they currently play around 29 days cricket per season.

A Middlesex representative has been approached for comment by The Athletic.