2014 Season Review - Division 6

How the league was won - Division 6 ended up in one of the most exciting league finishes of the season, and as such it is a little difficult summarising the season, knowing that the denouement was probably all that mattered. However, we'll do our best, and that exciting and fateful day at the end of the season is described in detail below. As it turned out, it was only the top three teams who really had a chance of winning the title, with 4th and 5th so far off the pace that we have included them in the next section.

Phoenix 3 were crowned Champions, and a cursory look at the stats reveals that it was their all conquering bowling attack which formed the basis of the march to the top. It is unheard of for three bowlers from the same club to be the leading wicket takers in the division, but that is what happened, with Aaron Joseph (31 wickets at 10.97), Sean Tomlinson (25 wickets at 9.28) and Graham Morris (24 wickets at 8.62) leading the way. That bowling lead to some very convincing wins, but they also lost a few games they probably shouldn't. When Phoenix were beaten by title rivals Knockharley on September 6th, that looked to be it. But as can be seen below, there was a twist in the tail. The batting didn't quite live up to the high standards achieved by the bowlers, with Syed Mehdi Shah (338 at 37.56), Bard Ovenden (274 at 22.83) and Nitin Naik (259 at 32.38) all passing 250.

Let's start with the positives with Knockharley 1. The club have acheived successive promotions, and look as if they could keep going up. They played some great cricket all year, and beat champions Phoenix twice. They didn't lose until June 28th, and then again on July 27th. But in the end the final day collapse against Longford was enough to consign them to second place. It's not the end of the world, and Knockharley will surely keep going up. But that must have been a bitter pill to swallow. The season was a real team effort. Only two batsmen passed 250, with Mark Ingamell being the only one (in the whole club!) to average over 30. He managed a very decent 355 runs at 32.37. The bowling didn't have the penetration of Phoenix. Liam Giggins led the way with 19 wickets at 17.68, with Jack Condie next with 16 at 19.00. Lots of bowlers chipped in, but nothing more. However, it was the batsmen who didn't perform on that fateful day in late September!

Rush 2 managed to be just off the pace for most of the season - but only just. They never quite looked like breaking into the top two, losing to both Phoenix and Knockharley in the first half of the season. That would have been fine if they had won the return fixtures, and when they beat Knockharley on July 27th, there was hope. But a loss to Phoenix on August 23rd, as well as losing the next two (to Railway Union and Sandyford) put an end to their hopes.
The big names all performed, with Chaiyapron Burke leading with the ball (15 at 26.67), Patrick Monks with the bat (351 at 39) and Patrick Sheridan with both (207 runs at 69 wuth the bat, and 13 wickets at 7.92 with the ball). There just wasn't enough support though - especially with the bat. Monks and Sheridan scored six 50's with everyone else only managing two.

How dreams turned to nightmares - As heralded at the top of the article, it is a bit unfair to be putting Railway Union 4 (and Sandyford 1) in this section, but in truth they never threatened the three teams at the top. At the end of August, Railway were in a lot of trouble (3-7), buy they then put a decent run together, winning their last three matches to pull themselves away from relegation. Analysis of the Railway stats has made for some interesting reading though! They lacked any batting depth, with Susheel Kumar (388 runs at 43.11, playing in 12 of Railway 4th's 14 matches) and Badal Kumar (285 runs at 25.91, playing in 11 matches) being the only two players who averaged over 14 whilst scoring more than 100 runs (Imran Mohammed excepted - see below). The bowling was better, with Susheel Kumar (19 wickets at 18.95), Nagesh Yadav (16 at 18.25, 11 matches) and Nick Jagoe (12 at 9.08, from only 3 matches!) all having decent seasons. The really surprising stat comes from the fact that the two Kumars and Yadav all played for Railway Union 3's in at least 20 of their 24 matches as well - on top of a full season for Railway 4ths!

Sandyford 1 were one of our picks for the title (for more details of the worst of our pre-season predictions, go to http://www.cricketleinster.ie/news/division-6-preview-play-it-again-sam), and in that respect, the season was disappointing. They won their first three matches, but then embarked on a five match losing run. Needing a change of fortunes to stay up, they then won three of their last five to pull clear of the bottom. That losing run coincided with
Sandyford having to go on the road, as the concert season took over Marlay Park. Sandyford 1 didn't have a game in Marlay between June 2nd and September 6th. Sandyford's batting was solid enough, with Ramji Padmanaban (297 at 33), Kanwar Arora (323 at 35.89) and Srikanth Boddu (449 at 32.07) leading the way. The bowling was a different story though, and Anto Burke was left to plough a lonely (and weary) furrow. He took 21 wickets at 13.24, and only Prem Peethambaran was anywhere near him with 16 at 23.06)

A massive mid-summer gap in Longford 1's fixtures, meant that on August 10th, they had only played four games, and were struggling at 1-3. They only won three more matches after that, but crucially in terms of their final league tally, they gained useful bonus points from their losses. In six of their losses they got either four or five bonus points, and they two of their wins also brought full points. They were crucial at the end of the season (see below). The bowling attack was satisfactory, without being wonderful. Danish Javed took 19 wickets at 15.74 and Imran Mehar chipped in with 16 at 14.25. The batting told a similar story (and to be honest if that wasn't the case, Longford wouldn't be at the wrong end of the table). Imran featured strongly in the  batting as well, with 266 runs at 24.18, but he was the closest anyone got to passing 300 runs. Hassan Rasheed was the only one with an average of over 30, with 226 at 32.29.

It is little consolation, but we feel that North Kildare 2 were a bit unlucky. They won more games than Longford above them, and between May 31 and August 23, they were 5-1. Either side of that mid-summer spell, they lost four at the beginning and two at the end, and that sealed their fate. Safdar Hussain scored 213 at 53.25, and Neil Vorster supported him with 263 at 26.3. It was a similar story with the ball. Vorster again shone, with 18 wickets at 16.94, whilst Andrew Chase came top of the pile with 19 at 14.16.

After a prolonged period of success and promotion, Castleknock 1 finally had a poor year. The batting line up was a real problem. They lost six of their first seven matches, and even with a false dawn of consecutive wins mid-summer, they never really looked like staying up. Beant Singh Bhatal joined the club pre-season, but after scoring 49 on debut, moved to the alluring fields of Merrion, where he had much success. The hole was never filled by Castleknock, and only Shakeer Ahmed (285 runs at 23.75) and Salman Tariq (273 at 39.0) really had seasons to write home about. Once again, the bowling was a similar story. Skipper Shakeer had 12 wickets at 18.42, and Nadeem Syed led the way with 18 at 18.56, but in truth there just wasn't enough quality with bat or ball.  


Heroes with the willow - It wasn't a vintage year for Division 6 batsmen. Only Railway's Susheel Kumar scored over 250 runs at an average of over 40 (383 at 43.11), whilst a further four scored over 250 runs at over 35, namely Salman Tariq (Castleknock), Syed Mehdi Shah (Phoenix), Kanwar Arora (Sandyford) and Patrick Monks (Rush). On the career front Merrion's Vikas Dhiman went into the season in first place in the all time Division 6 list with 775 runs at 43.06, but he has now been overtaken by three others. Castleknock's Shakeer Ahmed is third with 840 runs at 21.00, whilst two fine men of Sandyford lead the list - Ramji Padmanaban with 1040 at 41.60 and the new Division 6 leading run scorer, Srikanth Boddu with 1153 at 31.16.

Hell for leather - As was mentioned in Phoenix's summary, their bowlers dominated this year. Aaron Joseph broke Anto Burke's (Sandyford) 2011 record of most wickets in a Division 6 season (27) with his 31 at 10.97. Mssrs Tomlinson and Morris were close behind. Anto Burke himself had another great season, with 21 wickets at 13.25. Burke and Joseph continue their tussle in the all time charts, with Joseph now leading with 63 at 13.78 against Burke's 61 at 14.00

Days to remember - This doesn't seem fair to Knockharley, but it is rare that one match has such an effect on both ends of the table at such a crucial time of the season. On September 14th the season was entering its final stages. Knockharley 1 had been a commanding presence all season and just needed five points in their final league game to lift the title. Victory wasn't even necessary as a close loss would be enough. Should they slip up, Phoenix would be crowned champions. At the other end of the table, Longford were in all sorts of trouble, and needed to get 27 points from their last two games, against Knockharley and Rush. Both of these teams were in the top three of the league, and it looked as if Longford would be relegated, with North Kildare avoiding the drop. Knockharley batted first, and all seemed calm as they got to 14 without loss. Harry Shivmangal was then LBW to Fadi Khan, and when Mark Ingamell went in the same manner, panic set in (or at least may have done - I was not present at the match!). The trickle became a torrent, and Knockharley lost all ten wickets for 19 runs to be 33 all out. The wickets were shared around, with Danish Javed (4-9), Fadi Khan (3-13) and Adnan Sarfraz (3-3) all appearing on the scoresheet. Still reeling from the shock, Longford then took 21 balls to knock off the 34 runs needed. The entire match lasted 115 balls.. Phoenix 3 were crowned champions, and although not confirmed as safe, Longford only needed another two points from their last game - which they got. (http://www.cricketleinster.ie/results/view/-kentstown-2014-09-14-123000)

Stat you may have missed - Followers of Craig Senior's articles during the year will have noticed a name that cropped up frequently at the top of the "Most Fantasy points per match" list. Imran Mohammed of Railway Union averaged 160 points per match throughout the season, equivalent to 160 runs per match. Of course,  those of you in the know, know that he only played one match, and scored 160 runs. Railway travelled to Newtownforbes to take on Longford 1 on April 20th. At 87-8 it looked like being a long, wasted trip, but Imran had other ideas. He put on 85 for the 9th wicket with V Kishore Dadi and then 111 for the last wicket with Hadley Southall (who scored 14*). Imran finished on 160*. It was the highest score by a number seven in all Open Competitions cricket (since full records began in 2011), and the highest 10th wicket partnership in the Open Competitions this year. Needing 285 to win, Longford came agonisingly close, losing by 18 runs. (http://www.cricketleinster.ie/results/view/-newtownforbes-2014-04-20-133000)

Batting (Qualification - 100 runs)

Bowling (Qualification - 10 wickets)