The Crouch End-based club enjoyed a fantastic 2018 and this year looks set to be even better

It has been a unique year for North Middlesex. Twelve months ago, Luke Hollman and Ethan Bamber – both products of the club’s junior ranks – were in New Zealand, representing England’s under-19 side at the ICC U19 World Cup.

It was an unprecedented feat; never before had two players from the same amateur club featured in the same England age-group team.

One year on, the pair – and the Crouch End-based team – continue to go from strength to strength.

Bamber, who burst onto the professional scene with 28 wickets in six County Championship appearances at the back end of the season for Middlesex, last week signed a new long-term deal with the county.

Hollman, meanwhile, has continued to flourish with the England Young Lions.

He spent his December in Bangalore as part of a winter training camp, with the culmination of a successful winter beginning this week.

The 18-year-old leg-spinning all-rounder has been selected as part the Young Lions squad for their trip to Bangladesh, with three one-day games and a T20 international to be played, followed by a pair of Tests in Chittagong.

For Hollman, his selection comes after he was named the Middlesex Premier League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year at the competition’s end-of-season awards dinner in October.

However, the duo are by no means the only thriving members of the club’s heralded youth system.

First-team teenagers Hugh Teesdale and Joe Cracknell, who struck an unbeaten 207 for Middlesex’s U17 side in 2018, are playing in New Zealand.

While 17-year-old all-rounder Max Harris has become the latest of the club’s crop of youngsters to join Middlesex’s Academy.

Meanwhile, Gayatri Gole was part of the star-studded Surrey Stars squad that claimed victory in the women’s Kia Super League.

It makes for an unparalleled record at junior level, while also feeding into an increasingly dominant senior setup.

North Middlesex’s first-team, led by seamer Joel Hughes, finished third in the 2018 season, losing both the county 50-over and 20-over cup finals.

There was some silverware, however, as the club’s second XI won a third consecutive title, while the third team also secured league glory.