Charlie Randall
5 January 2012
Few could argue that Ealing were the club of 2011 after taking the Middlesex League title for the seventh season in succession and winning the ECB National Twenty20, but the Club Cricket Conference Cup eluded them. The first step in rectifying that omission in 2012, according to the draw published today, will be a first-round home tie against Gidea Park & Romford on May 6.
Apart from winning trophies, the Ealing conveyor belt of high-quality young players provided Ned Eckersley to Leicestershire and four colleagues to the Middlesex Academy -- a remarkable achievement. The academy intake featured Oli Wilkin, Harry Podmore, Robbie White and Arthur Godsall (as a junior), and Eckersley reminded Middlesex of his ability by hitting his maiden first class century against them in September.
Yet Ealing did not even reach the last four of the CCC Cup last summer. They were eliminated in front of their own supporters in the 2011 quarter-final by Chingford, who defeated Ealing's Middlesex rivals Finchley in the semi-finals before losing to Lordswood, from Chatham, in the final.
As a contrast to Ealing's mainly glorious season Gidea Park were relegated into the third tier of the Shepherd Neame Essex League and lost by 10 wickets to Teddington in the first round of the CCC Cup. They face a huge task in west London on May 6.
The full draw is:
| Home |
Away |
|
| Upminster | v | Teddington |
| Sawbridgeworth | v | Harrow |
| Colchester & East Essex | v | Walton-on-Thames |
| Ealing | v | Gidea Park & Romford |
| Harlow | v | Stanmore |
| Oxford | v | Tunbridge Wells |
| Hornchurch | v | Hampstead |
| Hertford | v | Harrow St Mary's |
| Hadleigh & Thundersley | v | Beaconsfield |
| Shenfield | v | Reading |
| Amersham | v | South Woodford |
| Sunbury | v | Bexley |
| Aston Rowant | v | Harold Wood |
| Enfield | v | Wanstead |
| Radlett | v | East Molesey |
| Fives & Heronians | v | Chessington |
| Buckhurst Hill | v | Beddington |
| Harrow Town | v | Brentham |
| Valley End | v | Dartford |
| Ardleigh Green | v | Brondesbury |
| Orpington | v | Saffron Walden |
| Blackheath | v | Malden Wanderers |
| Hayes (Kent) | v | South Hampstead |
| HSBC | v | Bromley |
| Hainault & Clayhall | v | John Fisher |
| Brentwood | v | Waltham |
| Richmond | v | Sevenoaks Vine |
There were 59 entries for 2012, so the 2011 semi-finalists -- Lordswood, Chingford, Finchley, Bickley Park -- received a bye with Acton, drawn by chance as the fifth club. The second round is due to be played on 3 June, third 24 June, quarter-finals 15 July, semi-finals 5 August, the final 27 August.