A broken finger while fielding substitute in Yorkshire's opening match got last season off to a wretched start for Middlebrook and he never had the opportunity to build upon some fine performances of the previous year. He did, however, underline his potential with some excellent all-round displays in the second team which enabled him to finish as the leading wicket-taker in the Championship with 41 dismissals as well as scoring 588 runs. He also contributed substantially with both bat and ball in the AON Trophy.