The 2026 senior cricket season has now ended and it has been a very positive one for Eastcote CC .
1st XI
Playing in Division 1 of the MCCL after spending the previous 7 years in Division 2 was always going to be a tough challenge but it was one that the team took on with gusto.
An excellent first half of the season saw us unbeaten and sitting in second place in the league. Runs were flowing and we broke the ECC record of runs scored in a league game when making 413-7 against Barnes CC. However an incredible run of bad luck with injuries to key players in the latter stages of the season meant that we fell just 3 points short of promotion to the Premier League and ended with a 4th place finish with a total of 102 points.
Overall a very good campaign with lots of positives for the future.
2nd XI
Under the new leadership of ECC legend Harpal Sagoo, the 2’s also had a good start to their campaign and spent most of the season in contention for promotion. Sitting just outside the top 2 they could never quite string enough positive results together to force their way in to the top 2 and a disappointing finish to the season where availability was stretched due to injuries and unavailability of players resulted in a league position of 6th. Overall a good season with a team full of young players who will be looking to be 1st team players of the future.
3rd XI
Again led by Shalin Thanki, the 3’s followed up their 2025 Division 2 title winning campaign by repeating the feat and winning Division 1 and will be playing in the 3rd XI Premier League next season. They racked up an impressive 119 points which is a fantastic achievement for the whole squad who all contributed at various points of the season which made the 3’s success a real team effort.
Congratulations to Shalin and the Thanki Army
4th XI
Under the guidance of skipper Sachin Ghogle the 4’s are an excellent starting point for juniors to begin their journey into senior cricket.
This season we had a number of juniors who not only made their debuts but also contributed greatly to the team, benefitting greatly from the experience.
The 4’s were always up and around the top 3 places in the league and battling for promotion but just fell away at the end to finish in 4th place.
Sunday Cricket
It has proved to be a real challenge to get 2 let alone 3 teams out on Sundays due to diminishing interest among the players.
However the MDL side led by Aaditya Bhandarkar and Ayaan Sheikh had a solid group stage where they finished runners up and qualified for the knockout stage where they put in two fantastic performances to beat North Middx CC in the quarter final and then Harrow St Mary’s in the semi final.
They ended losing to a very strong and vastly more experienced Richmond CC side in the final but it was an impressive campaign for the team as a whole.
The Sunday 1’s led by Jawwad Mahmud had a difficult season due to limited availability and ended up finishing 6th in Division 2 of The Chess Valley League.
They were able to give valuable game time to some younger talented juniors who made the most of their opportunities.
The Sunday 2’s were under the new leadership of Amit Bhabra had a disappointing season finishing 10th in Division 4.