Open Division 6 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2019) - Gerard O'Brien (Railway Union) - 1516 runs @ 30.32
Most runs in a Division 6 season - Phil Blackley (Laois) - 520 runs (2019)
Highest score - Imran Mohammed - 160 - Railway Union 4 vs Longford 1 - Newtownforbes - 22 Apr 2014
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2019) - Muhammad Raza (Railway Union) - 82 wkts @ 20.79
Most wickets in a Division 6 season - Aaron Joseph (Phoenix) - 31 wkts (2014)
Best bowling - Susheel Kumar - 7-13 - Railway Union 4 vs Castleknock 1 - Castleknock College - 14 Jun 2014
Most matches - Eoin Sheehan (Rush) (2011-17) - 68
Highest team score - 453-5 - Railway Union 4 vs Sandyford 1 - Park Avenue- 14 Jun 2015
Lowest team score - 26 all out - Merrion 5 vs Malahide 3 - Anglesea Road - 18 Aug 2018
Team of the Year Batsmen: Adrian Harper (Balbriggan) (Div 7 (2014)), Martin Russell (Malahide), Phil Blackley (Pembroke), Finbarr O'Halloran (Clontarf) (Div 7 (2018)), Hamish Manks (Malahide) (Div 4 (2011), Div 5 (2014, 2015))
Wicketkeeper: Chinmay Kadam (Adamstown)
Bowlers: Joe Prendergast (Pembroke) (Div 11 (2015)), Syed Haris (Balbriggan), Rana Tariq (Clontarf) (Div 11 (2015, 2018), Div 15 (2015)), Dakshin Eashwar (Balbriggan) (Div 11 (2019)), Suhas Yellur (Adamstown)
Review
In Open Division 6, 54 games were played and two other games were not played for various reasons (including rain)
Runs per wicket for all teams - 21.93 Runs per over for all teams - 5.05 - Division Competitiveness 89%
Pembroke 3 - Champions - (Pos in league - 40 (2018 - 41)) - Batting Rating 142 - Bowling Rating 129 - RpO for 5.16 - RpO against 4.89 - Youth %age (by appearances) 30.5% - Average age of team 28.8
After the disappointments of 2018, Pembroke 3 bounced back with a really strong season, dominating the league, with great individual performances throughout. Balbriggan and Adamstown both beat the champions over a two week spell in mid July, but from then on, a five match unbeaten run put paid to any hopes that the chasers may have had. From being the leading 3rd team in the province in 2013, Pembroke slipped to 5th in 2015, and still hold that position, but look destined to be in 4th place at the end of 2020, as they swap places in the league with Phoenix. Two players made the Team of the Year, one with bat and one with ball, and deservedly so. Phil Blackley gets start billing, breaking the Division 6 record for most runs in a season, a record held by Railway Union's Khizar Khan since 2014. Blackley scored five 50s in his 13 innings, totalling 520 runs at 57.78. Blackley is the third Pembroke player to score over 500 runs for a team in a league season, after Daniel Solway for the 1st team in 2016, and Daniel Barcley for the 2nd team in 2018. Leading wicket taker for the team was Joe Prendergast, who like many others in this team, looks far too good for Division 6 - Pembroke should be aiming for Division 4 in 2020 rather than worrying about relegation. Prendergast took 21 wickets at 11.67, including 6-19 against Castleknock, which was the best league bowling return for Pembroke 3 we have on record (since 2011). Predergast made his 1st team debut in August, and may have played his last matches for the third team! There was a massive amount of support for these two, as you'd expect from such a strong team. Saeedulah Azizi moved from Leinster over the winter, and was brilliant with bat and ball with 268 runs at 38.29 and 18 wickets at 20.67. 17 year old David Cosgrave was second on the run scoring charts with 318 runs at 31.8, with the batting role of honour being completed by Prendergast with 226 run at 25.11 - what a season for him. Piyush Sharma moved from DLR County, and took 16 wickets at 16.81, and the team's achievers are completed by two youth players - 18 year old Rahmanullah Orikhel with 14 wickets at 17.36 and 15 year old Patrick Morris who took 11 at 22.91.
Balbriggan 2 - 2nd - (Pos in league - 41 (2018 - 40)) - Batting Rating 108 - Bowling Rating 110 - RpO for 5.34 - RpO against 5.02 - Youth %age (by appearances) 28.0% - Average age of team 24.0
A strong finish by Balbriggan 2 turned around their season to end up with their second highest ever finish in the Leinster leagues (albeit one that was one place below the 2018 position, that could have only have been matched if they had been champions). It wasn't looking that way in the middle of July, when the team had a poor record of 3-4. But the last five were won, easing Balbriggan past Railway Union and Adamstown. Three players made the Team of the Year, and all three give up plenty of opportunities for some in depth analysis. Adrian Harper makes his first TotY since starring for Balbriggan 2 in Division 7 in 2014. Harper didn't play for the Balbriggan second string in 2018, but found instant success on his return, hitting 127 in the win over Clontarf in May. He then scored 15 in the loss against Pembroke, and so in mid July had played twice for the team, winning one and losing one for a team that has won three from seven. Returning to play in those last five games, Harper scored 46, 40, 59, 16 and 49 as all five were won. Overall he only played seven matches, scoring 352 runs at 58.67, but with his runs and experience dragged the team to that runners up spot. Syed Haris may disagree that everything was down to Harper, and his 26 wickets at 12.50 haven't been beaten for Balbriggan since since Ali Qasim (29 for the 2nds) and Duane Harper (28 for the 1sts) had great seasons in 2011. No player played more for the team in the league, and his performances helped him regain his place on the 1st team, where he recorded his best figures so far of 2-47 against Cork County in late August. Our final Balbriggan TotY member needs to have a little more delving. We always try to highlight players who are on multiple Teams of the Year in the season - players really shouldn't be able to dominate at two levels. But if there is an example where a club has an excuse it is probably this one. Dakshin Eashwar sneaked on to the Division 11 Team of the Year after playing seven matches, and he is also on the Division 6 Team of the Year, after taking 10 wickets at 13.6 in six matches. The season went in such a way for Eashwar that there wasn't really a point that the club or the OCC could say he was too good for Division 11. The first game of the season saw 3-24 for the 2nds against Clontarf, followed by 1-16, 2-18, and 2-22 for the 3rds, interspersed with 0-21, and 1-14 for the 2nds. This went on for most of the season, and it wasn't until September that Eashwar really found success. On August 31 he took 3-35 for the 2nds, followed by 3-19 and 3-21 for the 3rds, before the season ended on September 14 with 3-42. So just one of those things, and a good season all round. Since making his debut in 2015, Abdul Samad has led the way with bat and ball for Balbriggan 2 (since 2011, he is the leading wicket taker and one of only two players to have scored 1000 runs (alongside Syed Mehdi)) and this season was no different. He was the leading run scorer with 385 runs at 38.5 and also took 14 wickets at 20.36. Completing the set are Salman Aziz (214 runs at 21.4) and Ikhtiar Sanzai (10 wickets at 16.70).
Railway Union 3 - 3rd - (Pos in league - 42 (2018 - 45)) - Batting Rating 104 - Bowling Rating 105 - RpO for 5.15 - RpO against 4.96 - Youth %age (by appearances) 5.6% - Average age of team 33.4
A step in the right direction for Railway Union 3, who recorded their highest league position since 2015 and moved over Leinster 3 to become the sixth highest 3rd team in the province. We will have a closer look at six players who provided the bulk of the runs and wickets, but we'll start with one who whilst wasn't the leading run scorer or wicket taker, has been central to this halt of a mini-decline. Gerard O'Brien needs no introduction, and after another solid season in the league moved ahaead of Rush's Eoin Sheehan to be leading run scorer in the history of Division 6. His total since Railway first played in this division in 2013 is 1516 runs at 30.32 and this year he scored 392 runs at 30.15. The highest run scorer accolade in the team went to Ciarán Kenny who scored 418 runs at 38, the fifth player to score over 400 league runs in a season for Railway Union 3. Kenny's run scoring for the 3rds earned him a recall to the 2nds for the first time since 2017, and then a first 1st team match since 2016, when he scored 20 against Clontarf. The final player to pass 200 runs was Ash Bharvirkar who was brilliant at times, but struggled for consistency. His score were 24, 5, 17, 0, 2, 17, 9, 54*, 5, 106, 8, 50 to total 271 runs at 33.88. As with most teams, the batting struged in the first few games, and after four matche, they were 1-3. But from then on, they only lost two more (both to Pembroke) to finish the season 8-5, comfortably mid-table. The bolwing was dominated (again) by Muhammad Raza who in all cricket for Railway Union 3 has taken 109 wickets at 21.65, the only player to have 100 wickets for the team. This year in the league he took 24 wickets at 14.46, but the startling thing is that with all those years of brilliance in the 3rds, he has only played six matches on the 2nds - twice in 2012, twice in 2017 and twice more this year (totalling 3-29 in seven overs of bowling across the two games). Apart from Raza, the bowling lacked the depth to be able to seriously challenge at the top, with the support coming from Adriaan van Dyk (13 wickets at 25.31) and 16 year old Rahul Gomes (12 wickets at 22)
Adamstown 2 - 4th - (Pos in league - 43 (2018 - 50)) - Batting Rating 90 - Bowling Rating 100 - RpO for 5.05 - RpO against 4.82 - Youth %age (by appearances) 14.3% - Average age of team 31.9
First the good news. Adamstown 2 moved yet another seven places up the Cricket Leinster league structure, and are now the only team in the province that has improved its league position in each of the last seven seasons. It is a phenomenal achievement, and the only thing stopping them going further is the Adamstown 1st team in Division 5. But it has to be said that it wasn't quite a dominant season on the pitch, and the 4th position looks to be down to some really good gritty wins in four matches. They beat Clontarf by 7 runs (after being 36-6), then in the return beat them again by 2 wickets (losing five wickets for seven runs to leave them 124-7 before ending on 188-8). In a T20 refix, they beat Pembroke by three wickets, despite being 74-5 chasing 153 (Bradley Fernandes hitting a 37 ball 76), and against Malahide, they were only chasing 137, but were 113-8 before Manoj Monteiro and Hardeep Singh added the required runs. Four close matches, that if they had gone the other way, would have dropped Adamstown into the relegation places. And that is born out by our analysis - we rate them as only the 6th best team in the division, with the batting really struggling. Only one player passed 200 runs for the season - and he only played four matches. Bradley Fernandes scored 214 at 71.33 (including that blistering knock against Pembroke), with the team winning three of the four he played in. We set a minimum of five games played to make our Team of the Year, and Fernandes therefore didn't qualify, but those four games were impressive - 76*, 44, 30, 64. Two players did make the Team of the Year though, both fairly unheralded. Chinmay Kadam didn't have the best of seasons with the bat, but was dependable with the gloves to take 15 dismissals, the most in Division 6. Suhas Yellur must have broken some sort of record - he has only ever played seven matches in Leinster, but makes the Team of the Year with 13 wickets at 13.85, the centre piece of which was 6-25 away to Malahide. It was the best return for an Adamstown bowler this year, and the best figures in a club game on the main square in Malahide this year. The rest of the bowling had Shiv Sethi with 16 wickets at 16.88, with the redoubtable Manoj Monteiro next with 15 at 19.33, followed by 16 year old Krith Shetty who took 13 at 24.38.
Malahide 3 - 5th - (Pos in league - 44 (2018 - 46)) - Batting Rating 104 - Bowling Rating 94 - RpO for 5.04 - RpO against 4.80 - Youth %age (by appearances) 37.0% - Average age of team 28.2
The season of Malahide 3 was very much the same as Railway Union 3's. In fact here is the opening sentence with Railway Union changed to Malahide, 2015 changed to 2016, and sixth changed to seventh - "A step in the right direction for Malahide 3, who recorded their highest league position since 2016 and moved over Leinster 3 to become the seventh highest 3rd team in the province." In truth, the season was a little disjointed, and after four wins from the first six matches, they fell away by only winning two of the last eight. But even with that disappointing end to the season, there are a good few positives to look at, with youth dominating the bowling, and a couple of brilliant batting performances. Two players made the Team of the Year, a batsman and an all rounder. Hamish Manks has been prolific with bat and ball for Malahide since 2011, coming 9th on the Malahide wicket taking charts, and 4th in the batting (behind Fintan McAllister, Brian Gilmore and Callum Riches). And he is also 4th on the list of players with most runs in the province without a ton (Usama Raees currently holds that record with 3891 runs). Manks was pretty darn impressive with bat and ball this year, scoring 407 runs at 40.7 and 15 wickets at 14.67. He makes his fourth Team of the Year and first since the Division 5 team in 2015. 2019 was Martin Russell's first full season for Malahide, and as he only played eight matches for the 3rds and 4ths in 2018, this season gave him an opportunity to impress. Like many other players in our reviews, the stats can be a little misleading at times. Russell's season was a slow burner - at the end of August, he had scored 142 runs at just over 20. Not too bad, but nothing to write home about. But September was to his liking, and he finished the year with 123, 16 and 158* to end with 406 runs at 58. The 158* was in a remarkable last game of the season against Malahide. Russell hit 9 sixes and 17 fours as Malahide made 279-7, but a fine team performance from Balbriggan (with no one getting a fifty), saw them winning by two wickets and two overs to spare. Russell's 158* was the second highest score on the ground (normally 2011 caveats apply!) after Merrion's Neil Brown scored 167* in Division 7 in 2018. It is the highest score for Malahide in that time (beating Reinhardt Strydom's 155* in 2014) and the second highest recorded in Division 6. Three other players took ten wickets or more, all of them youth players. 16 year old Eoghan Keohane took 14 at 28.93 and 17 year olds Ben Askew (11 at 26.18) and Camron Calder (10 at 19.80) all contributed.
Clontarf 4 - 6th - (Pos in league - 45 (2018 - 51)) - Batting Rating 102 - Bowling Rating 92 - RpO for 5.36 - RpO against 5.72 - Youth %age (by appearances) 9.7% - Average age of team 29.2
So many of these reviews hark back to the 2011 season. It massively frustrates many (myself included), and echoes "Premier League Syndrome" whereby all English Football history starts in 1992 ignoring the 130 preceding years. But unfortunately Cricket Leinster weren't in a position to collect detailed statistics for games at all levels (although we do have one of the club cricket world's best data sets thanks to the work of Derek Scott, detailing all "Senior" cricket and documented in Cricket Leinster's centenary book). But apart from that, we can only go back nine seasons, and we're stuck with it. But even those nine seasons start to present some form of historical perspective, and it is now possible to see the teams and clubs who have had a strong decade. If we look only at those teams who have played in all nine seasons, which teams have had the most success in terms of impriving league position? Adamstown 1 are top of this particular table, with a cumulatative 30 place improvement. After that comes YMCA 3, Knockharley 2, Balbriggan 2, Knockharley 1 followed by Wexford Wanderers 1 and Clontarf 4. All seven teams have had pretty impressive decades, but it is possible that Clontarf 4s has been the most unheralded. All of the improvement has come about in the last four seasons, for reasons that perhaps only the club knows! Back in 2016, Tarf 4ths were the 6th best fourth team around, and although it is possible to over egg the importance of such things, strong clubs should be strong all the way through their teams. But successive promotions have taken them to where they are today, presumably the highest the team has ever played, and the second best 4th team in the province. So with all that taken into account, the actual results side of things wasn't that impressive (only five wins), but as we have seen, for a fourth team that is irrelevant. Six players passed our seasonal threshold, with two standing out and making the Team of the Year. Finbarr O'Halloran has had a great two seasons for Clontarf 4, making the TotY in Division 7 in 2018, and continuing in 2019. In eight innings, he scored 251 runs at 41.83. And whilst we have criticised other clubs for failing to give their successful players a chance at higher levels, O'Halloran had plenty of opportunities on the 3rds, without quite managing to grasp them. There is always 2020. Rana Tariq has had a slow burner of a Cricket Leinster career, picking up two Division 11 TotYs including in 2018. But he has always looked at a level above that Division 11/Clontarf 5 standard - before this year his record for Clontarf 4 was 648 runs at 18.51 and 37 wickets at 17.92. This year's performance marks him out as too good for Division 11, and very much a candidate for higher levels - 15 wickets at 13.6 and 259 runs at 25.9. The bowling attack wasn't as stong as the other teams in the division, with Pankaj Bhamare and Sheikh Sahil both taking 16 wickets but at a high average - 27.13 and 25.13 respectively. Naveed Rana's wickets came cheaply - 14.0, but he was used sparingly, only taking 10 wickets all season. Daire Vickers completes our look at Clontarf - he scored 210 runs at 21.
Leinster 3 - 7th - (Pos in league - 46 (2018 - 44)) - Batting Rating 87 - Bowling Rating 101 - RpO for 4.68 - RpO against 4.81 - Youth %age (by appearances) 17.5% - Average age of team 30.8
A disappointing season for Leinster 3, who slipped to their lowest finishing position we have on record, cementing a fall from fourth 3rd team in the province in 2016 to the 8th best now. The fourth best bowling attack in the division was handicapped by a batting unit that didn't fire, especially at the begining of the year when they were dismissed for less than 90 three times before mid May. Old and new provided any success that the batting order did have, with Chris Oosthuizen having another strong season with 261 runs at 32.63 and 16 year old Daire Cassidy scoring 204 runs at 29.14. Oosthuizen is the leading run scorer in all competitions for both Leinster 3 and Leinster 4, and for the 3rds has scored nearly 800 runs more than anyone else (1847 at 27.16). Players dropping into the team seemed to have more success than the regulars - of the nine who played in more than half of the league games, only Cassidy and Oosthuizen scored 50s - against four other players who rarely played, but scored 50s when they did. Two players led the bowling - Somasekhar Rapolu with 17 wickets at 20.24 and Michael Scully with 11 at 24.09. Noel Cronin became the 10th bowler to take five wickets for Leinster 3, when he took 5-21 against Malahide.
Castleknock 1 - 8th - (Pos in league - 47 (2018 - 39)) - Batting Rating 79 - Bowling Rating 75 - RpO for 4.58 - RpO against 5.39 - Youth %age (by appearances) 4.2% - Average age of team 34.1
A tough old season for Castleknock 1, who slipped back to a league position they have not had since 2014 and 2015. The oldest team in the division struggled with bat and ball, and after winning two games in the first five matches, lost the last nine. There were a few bright spots. Hassan Nawaz made his debut in the province this season, scoring 223 runs at 37.17 although his availability limited him to six league matches, and 18 year old Samran Patel arrived in Castleknock after spells with Phoenix, YMCA and Clontarf, and gave hope for the future with 52 against Malahide. With the ball, Sardar Rashid took 10 wickets at 17, but a Castlekock review wouldn't be complete with out bowing down at the magnificance of Nurul Boda. Boda is now six wickets short of 200 in his Cricket Leinster career (35 have achieved that since 2011), and is the club's leading wicket taker with 194 at 14.21. This year he took 19 league wickets at 23.53, but he couldn't carry the team on his own.
The full Division 6 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here