Middlesex launch Wisden City Cup

Man of the match Owais Shah after winning the Twenty20 Cup last season

Wisden editor Scyld Berry has teamed up with Middlesex to set up a scheme to address the dearth of Afro-Caribbean and Asian players at the club.

Middlesex are launching a Twenty20 cup competition aimed at London communities the club is currently failing to reach.

Berry told BBC London 94.9: "The Wisden City Cup starts on July 14 on midweek evenings.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for those who have not had the chance to play cricket to a high level."

Although Middlesex has a huge Asian population, Owais Shah is the only player of Asian origin in the first team. The club currently has no players of Afro-Caribbean descent.

It was this state of affairs that galvanised Berry and Middlesex director of cricket Angus Fraser to do something.

Berry said: "A couple of years ago, England were touring Sri Lanka and we were in Kandy for a Test match.

"Angus and I were talking and he was saying how the Middlesex side of the 1980s, which is when he started, had five players of Afro-Caribbean origin and now there were none.

"We decided, upon Angus becoming director of cricket at Middlesex, that this was an opportunity to do something about it. We want to bring cricket to inner-city communities which don't have the chance to play.

"The appalling fact is that in east London it's a sort of no-man's land, or no-cricketer's land, in that it's always fallen between Middlesex and Essex and there is not a cricket ground in east London with a turf pitch.

"There is Victoria Park which has artificial pitches but there is no cricket ground in east London where people can play.

"Much of the Bangladeshi community in this country is based in east London. They love cricket and there's nowhere for them to play out of doors."

Berry is keen to extend the initiative around the country eventually but believes that Middlesex is an ideal starting point.

He added: "I guess Middlesex has the most cosmopolitan, multicultural society of any first-class county so it would be good to get the Middlesex team reflecting the demographics of the county.

"It did in the 1980s and Middlesex were county champions."

The Wisden City Cup will consist of four teams from west, north-west, north-east and east London.

Middlesex have ensured access to the best club grounds in the county, including Hornsey, Southgate, Eastcote and Stanmore. Cricket clothing will be supplied and there will be prizes and prize money available.

The minimum age to compete is 16 and the target age group is 16-25, but each team will be allowed to have a couple of players over the age of 25.