2014 Season Review - Division 12

How the league was won - Division 12 as a whole had more than a hint of dis-organisation about it. Some matches were not played, one was played with less than the minimum overs, some scorecards went missing for long periods, and there were a good few walkovers. It meant that the league table that we finished up with was not necessarily the same one as we could see at the time. However, with the benefit of hindsight, there were only three teams who were ever in the running to win the title. On the morning of July 26, Halverstown 1 were sitting pretty, winning five of their first six games. They had already twice beaten fellow title challengers Merrion 7. They became inconsistent though, losing five matches from then on. It handed the impetus to Merrion 7, who overcame those losses to Halverstown to recover somewhat, before a loss to Adamstown 3 on August 16 meant they couldn't catch Adamstown. Adamstown themselves started badly, before winning eight of their last nine matches to lift the silverware.

How dreams turned to nightmares - With only three clubs pushing for the top spot, that left six more who were looking towards the trapdoor. Dublin University 3 and Swords 2 were fairly solid. Both were inconsistent, but did enough to not have to worry about relegation. Phoenix 5 got off to an awful start (1-5 before July), before pulling their socks up. A win over Halverstown in August dragged them to safety. Railway Union 6 only played nine games all year due to a variety of reasons. That left Pembroke 6 and Bagenalstown 2. The former had a tough season, and their cup finals were the two matches against Bagenalstown, which were shared. That Bagenalstown win in Sydney Parade was the highlight of another tough season for the Baggies, but they'll be back.+


Heroes with the willow - Thirteen players scored 200 runs, but nobody passed 300. Hammas Habib of Adamstown scored 279 at 46.60 and Aidan Chester of Phoenix scored 231 at 46.20 were the stand out performers, with Karthik Neela of Merrion being the highest run scorer with 287 at 31.89. Remarkably there was not a single Division 12 century in 2014. On the historical front, Trevor Wardrop of Halverstown is the new all time Division 12 run scorer with 629 runs at 39.31, overtaking Samuel Richie's (Clontarf) 504 runs at 21.91


Hell for leather - There was no disputing the fact that ball dominated bat in Division 12. Whereas the batsmen generally struggled, six took 20 wickets or more (considered to be the equivalent of 400 runs). Bill Hobbs of Halverstown was the highest wicket taker with 25 at 11.44, although there should be a special mention for Karthik Boddu of Merrion 7 who took 23 wickets at 5.83, but didn't get a chance to play for Merrion 6 in the league! On the career side of things, there will be arguments in Phoenix. John Anders'reign as top Division 12 wicket taker is over, as he has been replaced at the top by fellow Phoenix man, Graham Mooney who now has 46 Division 12 wickets at 17.35

Days to remember - Only ten players experienced the thrill of taking seven wickets in a match this season (in Open Competitions), so it would be rude to ignore one. Ivan Morgan of Railway Union 6, took his first wicket against Adamstown 3 on August 31, with Adamstown going well at 73-1. By the time he took his seventh wicket, they were 143-9, and Morgan finished with 7-36 off 8 overs. Unfortunately that was as good as it got for Railway, as they were dismissed for 87 to lose by 74 runs.


Stat you may have missed - At 73-7 Dublin University were in a lot of trouble against Phoenix 5 on August 24th. Peter Kingston (40*) and Cillian O'Riordan (60*) then put on 103 for the 8th wicket to get Trinity to a match winning total of 176-7. It was the 2nd highest 8th wicket partnership in all Open Comps this year, and the fourth highest for Trinity as a whole for all wickets this season

Batting (Qualification - 100 runs)

Bowling (Qualification - 10 wickets)