HAVING taken county cricket virtually by storm for the preceding 17 years (14 trophies 1976-93), Middlesex have achieved relatively little since except a continued reputation for monumental eating ability.
Last season's ninth in the championship was eminently predictable as the side came to terms with the loss of seven senior players in five years, most notably John Emburey 12 months ago. Now that John Carr has put away his rapier for a more sedate job behind a desk at the new English Cricket Board, the only thing the team look genuinely capable of demolishing is a large lunch.
That is to reckon without the gargantuan appetite -for success - of their enigmatic leader, M W Gatting, in his last season as captain, bringing to an end 26 years of the two Mikes (Brearley was captain for 12 years before Gatting). He will want to go out with bangers, of the gunpowder variety, and will leave no stone unturned and no ear unbent in such a quest before handing over the reins to Mark Ramprakash.
Whether he has the personnel to achieve it is debatable. Resources were so stretched last season that three players made their championship debut in the same match and there is still a high level of inexperience in the squad. Only three batsmen have more than 4,000 runs under their belt, and Gatting is third-highest wicket-taker with 127. Since the departure of Desmond Haynes and Mike Roseberry in 1995, and a string of accomplished fast bowlers, there has been no settled opening pair, or consistent new-ball partner for Angus Fraser.
After some stirring displays last season, Paul Weekes will go in first, but it is anyone's guess who will accompany him. Jason Pooley, a fine player of spin, prefers a position down the order where Gatting suggests ``it will be rather crowded'' with Ramprakash settled at three, and Gatting himself, Keith Brown and the new overseas signing, Jaques Kallis, in occupation below. Then there is the precociously talented Owais Shah to accommodate once he has finished school. So Pooley might have to lump it at No 2.
Ramprakash spent a productive winter in Perth, out of the limelight, but his Test career is far from over. With a career average superior to all current England players apart from John Crawley, his chance will come again, and the vice-captaincy of Middlesex may be the extra responsibility he needs to take his mind off personal expectation. In time, we might again see the brilliant, free-spirited batsman he was as a teenager. Shah, 18, provides an active reminder.
Gatting had a poor season last year, failing to reach 1,000 runs for the first time since 1980 and, by his own admission, he was overweight. Still anxious to join the elite and reach a hundred hundreds (he is 10 short), it would be a surprise if he did not return from Middlesex's pre-season visit to Portugal a few pounds lighter. Brown provides further middle-order ballast, his doughty, workmanlike fifties being as much part of the fabric as his vast consumption of sirloin steak.
The South African Kallis was fourth choice as overseas player, after deals with Javagal Srinath, Greg Blewett and Michael Slater fell through. A resourceful young batsman with an excellent temperament and a nagging medium-pacer, he is still learning the game and will therefore struggle to make an immediate impact. At least, though, he cannot do any worse than Dion Nash, the previous incumbent, who bowled only 10 overs last season before returning to New Zealand with a back injury.
The onus will again be on Fraser, in his benefit year, to make early inroads with the ball and there are reports that he has overcome a technical problem and is hitting the seam again. His opening partner will be Richard Johnson, a talented bowler plagued by self-doubt, or Ricky Fay, handy with the new ball. Coming on first change, energetic all-rounder Jamie Hewitt looked a useful find last year, increasing in speed and penetration as the season progressed.
The county are well served in spin, with Umer Rashid to cover if Phil Tufnell is on Test duty and the underrated Keith Dutch to help Paul Weekes in the off-break department.
And talking of service, 1997 is county coach Don Bennett's 45th and final season with the club. Having retired as a player, he took over coaching duties in 1969, overseeing the greatest period in Middlesex's history. Sadly, it looks unlikely his last year will be a triumphant one.