Josh de Caires

Joshua Michael de Caires (born 25 April 2002) is an English cricketer,^[1][2] and the son of former England cricket captain Michael Atherton. He made his first-class debut on 5 July 2021, for Middlesex in the 2021 County Championship.

Josh de Caires

Personal information
Full name	Joshua Michael de Caires
Born	(2002-04-25) 25 April 2002 (age 23) Paddington, London, England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Batsman
Relations	Michael Atherton (father) David de Caires (grandfather) Frank de Caires (great-grandfather)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2021–present	Middlesex (squad no. 25)
FC debut	5 July 2021 Middlesex v Gloucestershire
LA debut	3 August 2021 Middlesex v Lancashire
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20 Matches 24 16 21 Runs scored 993 171 170 Batting average 28.37 13.15 12.14 100s/50s 0/7 0/0 0/0 Top score 87 43 31* Balls bowled 2,714 492 230 Wickets 36 11 12 Bowling average 43.66 39.27 30.75 5 wickets in innings 2 0 0 10 wickets in match 1 0 0 Best bowling 8/106 3/52 2/34 Catches/stumpings 10/– 11/– 9/–
Source: Cricinfo, 2 August 2025

Personal life

De Caires is from Paddington, Middlesex, England.^[2] He is the son of former England cricketer Michael Atherton,^[3][4] and the great-grandson of former West Indian cricketer Frank de Caires.^[5] De Caires says that he has rarely seen his father batting, as he was born eight months after Atherton's last Test match.^[3] He was given his mother's maiden name,^[3][4] but does not know why.^[3] De Caires attended St Albans School, Hertfordshire,^[6] where he was coached by former England cricketer Mark Ilott,^[7] and as of 2021, he was a student of economics at the University of Leeds.^[8]

Career

De Caires is a batsman,^[9] who often opens the batting.^[10] He started playing for Middlesex CCC under-14s in 2015. On debut, he scored 90*.^[5][11] In 2017, De Caires made his debut for Middlesex Second XI, at the age of 15.^[4][5] In 2019, he hit a century in a Second XI Championship match against Hampshire.^[9]

In 2020, De Caires played for Middlesex in a two-day pre-season friendly against Northamptonshire CCC.^[11] In August 2020, De Caires signed a three-year professional contract with Middlesex.^[11] In club cricket, De Caires played for Radlett Cricket Club in the 2020 Hertfordshire Cricket League season. He was the league's second-highest wicket taker.^[12] In 2021, De Caires played for Leeds/Bradford MCCU in a match against Yorkshire CCC. He scored 118 from 292 deliveries to help Leeds/Bradford secure a draw in the match.^[4][13] The match did not have first-class status, as university matches no longer qualify for first-class status.^[4] The Yorkshire bowling attack included England bowler David Willey.^[4] He also played for Tickhill Cricket Club in 2021.^[14]

De Caires made his first-class debut on 5 July 2021, for Middlesex in the 2021 County Championship.^[15] On 9 July 2021, he made his Twenty20 debut, also for Middlesex, in the 2021 T20 Blast.^[16] He made his List A debut on 3 August 2021, for Middlesex in the 2021 Royal London One-Day Cup.^[17]

In 2022, De Caires scored a half-century for Leeds/Bradford MCCU in a match against Yorkshire.^[18] In Middlesex's first match of the 2022 County Championship, he scored his maiden first-class half-century.^[19]

In the 2023 County Championship match against Hampshire, De Caires took career best figures of 7–144. Later in the season, he took 8–106 in a match against Essex.^[20]