2019 Women’s Division 1 review – Leinster W1 pull clear in six team dogfight

Women's Division 1 stats

Leading all time run scorer (2016-2019) - Mary Waldron (Pembroke/Malahide) - 1477 runs @ 64.22
Most runs in a Division 1 season - Kerry Tomlinson (Clontarf) - 893 runs (2018)
Highest score - Mary Waldron - 184 - Malahide W1 vs The Hills W1 - The Vineyard - 5 Aug 2018
Leading all time wicket taker (2016-2019) - Rachel Delaney (Merrion) - 60 wkts @ 21.85
Most wickets in a Division 1 season - Isobel Joyce (Merrion) - 24 wkts (2018)
Best bowling - Leah Paul - 5-6 - Merrion W1 vs North Kildare W1 - Anglesea Road - 2 Sept 2016
Most matches - Rachel Delaney (Merrion)- 50 (2016-2019)

Team of the Year

Review
In Women's Division 1, one game resulted in a side being given a walkover and four matches were not played for other reasons (including rain).
Runs per wicket for all teams - 23.63 Runs per over for all teams - 5.84 - Division Competitiveness 91%

Leinster W1 - Champions - (Pos in league - 1 (2018 - 1)) - Batting Rating 88 - Bowling Rating 120 - RpO for 5.71 - RpO against 5.57 - Youth %age (by appearances) 51.9% - Average age of team 21.0

Leinster W1 retained their Division 1 title, in a season where every team kept on losing, and everyone was capable of losing to everyone else. Leinster lost to Merrion (twice), YMCA (twice) and Clontarf, but as with sporting leagues the world over, all that mattered was that Leinster got more points than the others. In such a tight league, it is the narrow victories that become crucial, and Leinster had plenty of them. A four run and a fourteen win over Malahide, an 8 run win over Merrion and 6 runs over Clontarf. And Leinster's strength was down to the large number of players who stepped up to the plate (and hit a home run). Hannah Ridgeway top scored with 31 in one of the Malahide wins and Ellen Ridgeway with 40* in the other. In the Merrion match, Laura Delany top scored with 52*, whilst Ellen Ridgeway chipped in again with 38 in the Clontarf match. Our Division 1 Team of the Year above is staggeringly strong, with six members of the current Ireland squad, three more who were in last winter's World Cup squad, one overseas player and one for the future. The one for the future is Ava Canning, who took 11 wickets at 16.64, a great achievement alongside high quality players. Leinster's other representative is Amy Kenealy is was as consistent as ever with 13 wickets across the season at 12.15, but plenty of others chipped in with wickets. Maria Kerrison took 10 at 28.80 and Jenny Sparrow 10 at 26.70. Five more players passed 100 runs - stressing the fact that many contributed to Leinster's success. Ellen Ridgeway was the highest scorer with 318 at 31.80, followed by Sophie MacMahon (268 at 29.78), Rebecca Stokell (143 at 17.88), Laura Delany (114 at 57) and Rebecca Rolfe (105 at 105)

Clontarf W1 - 2nd - (Pos in league - 2 (2018 - 5)) - Batting Rating 109 - Bowling Rating 94 - RpO for 5.37 - RpO against 5.76 - Youth %age (by appearances) 55.8% - Average age of team 22.9

One amazing fact missed out from Leinster's review above was that their batting was only the 5th best in the division. Clontarf's however was second only to Merrion and it was that batting strength which powered Tarf to 2nd place, a three place improvement on 2018. With there only being a 16 point gap between Clontarf and Leinster, it's easy to look at individual matches with a sense of "what if". And Clontarf's last game of the season is as good a place as any to start - a 6 run defeat winner takes all match against Leinster. At 75-2 Tarf were in a decent position to overhaul Leinster's 142-7, but a climbing run rate made things much harder than that and a late Una Raymond-Hoey onslaught wasn't quite enough (it should also be noted that if Clontarf had won Leinster may well have played against Pembroke in game that was abandoned due to the rain and not subsequently refixed). Clontarf have two players on the Team of the Year, and Raymond-Hoey thoroughly deserved her place. She was the leading run scorer in the division with 563 runs at 62.56 including 150* against Leinster in a 50 over match. In that match, Raymond-Hoey added 157 for the fifth wicket with Isobel Joyce, and it was Joyce's move from Merrion to Clontarf that turned Tarf into real title contenders. Joyce made 417 runs at 46.33 (second only to Raymond-Hoey in the run scoring stakes), and took 14 wickets at 17.29. Overseas player Cassie Stephens had an excellent season, the Western Australian being the league's highest wicket taker with 17 wickets at 18.18, as well as scoring 215 at 21.50. Four others earn passing mentions - Aoife Brennan scored 187 runs at 13.36, Lara Maritz scored 144 at 36, Cliodhna O'Reardon scored 106 at 26.5 and Molly Butler took 11 wickets at 24.73.

Merrion W1 - 3rd - (Pos in league - 3 (2018 - 2)) - Batting Rating 145 - Bowling Rating 113 - RpO for 6.34 - RpO against 5.68 - Youth %age (by appearances) 12.5% - Average age of team 25.8

A disappointing season for Merrion W1. And when we say disappointing, it is along the lines that they really should have won the league. We had them rated as the strongest team in the division, but a run of one win in six matches from May to early August meant they were always up against it. Despite all that, wins against Pembroke and Malahide in late August could have still taken Merrion to the title, but it just wan't to be. Rachel Delaney is possibly the pre eminent allrounder in the division, but wasn't quite strong enough with bat or ball to make our Team of the Year. She scored 405 runs at 40.5 and took 16 wickets at 19.25. Three players did make the team - Leah Paul with 387 runs at 77.4, Cecilia Joyce, who makes the team as wicketkeeper, but who also scored 390 runs at 39 and Celeste Raack with 12 wickets at 15.42. Two others contributed heavily - Julianne Morrissey with 14 at 24.07 and Naomi Matthews with 204 runs at 18.55.

YMCA W1 - 4th - (Pos in league - 4 (2018 - 7)) - Batting Rating 108 - Bowling Rating 74 - RpO for 7.03 - RpO against 6.92 - Youth %age (by appearances) 66.7% - Average age of team 19.9

YMCA W1 were a brilliant batting side that stormed along at over seven an over all season. Unfortunately, their bowling was nearly as expensive, meaning they couldn't improve on the their 4th place in 2018. Only one player made our Team of the Year, and based on the description above it is perhaps it is no surprise that it is a batter who score quick runs - Gaby Lewis, who scored 337 at 48.14. Nor surprisingly ,that feeling of a brilliant side - capable of breathtaking cricket as well as the opposite was reflected in the team's results. Highlight was possibly an 82 run victory over runners-up Clontarf, with YM running up 224-1 in 20 overs (Gaby Lewis 92, Jennifer Gray 77*, Kerry Tomlinson 23*). The reverse fixture saw a 10 wicket Clontarf victory, with Tarf knocking off the required 90 runs in less than 13 overs. Kerry Tomlinson wasn't too far behind Gaby Lewis, scoring 401 runs at 44.56, Robyn Lewis wasn't far behind her younger sister with 255 at 31.88 and Jennifer Gray scored 223 at 22.3. But the less said about the bowling the better. No one took ten wickets with the best being Robyn Lewis' 7 at 28.29.

Malahide W1 - 5th - (Pos in league - 5 (2018 - 3)) - Batting Rating 84 - Bowling Rating 102 - RpO for 5.17 - RpO against 5.51 - Youth %age (by appearances) 60.6% - Average age of team 18.9

The youngest squad on the division matched their 2019 position of 5th place, in a season that took a while to get started. They lost their first six matches, and it wasn't until early August that they first felt that winning feeling. They they won five of their last six, with wins against Pembroke (twice), Clontarf (twice) and Merrion. It wouldn't be fair to lay all Malahide's success at the feet of their overseas player Bhavisha Devchand, but it wouldn't be fair either to ignore her contribution. The Perth Scorchers player only played these last six matches, and made a good enough contribution with the ball to make our Team of the Year with 11 wickets at 11.09 (she also scored 118 runs at 29.5). Malahide were definitely not a one player team though, with five others making major contributions. Niamh Walsh was the leading wicket taker with 15 wickets at 18.87 (alongside 155 runs at 15.5), whilst the leasing run scorer was Anna Kerrison was 2533 runs at 33.29 (and she also took 12 wickets at 25.08). Caoimhe McCann scored 209 runs at 17.42, Amy Hunter scored 159 runs at 31.8 and Isobel McCormack took 10 wickets at 24.00. All of those players mentioned (except Devchand) were 20 or under during the season - Malahide will get better and better over the coming years.

Pembroke W1 - 6th - (Pos in league - 6 (2018 - 4)) - Batting Rating 79 - Bowling Rating 98 - RpO for 5.70 - RpO against 5.79 - Youth %age (by appearances) 52.8% - Average age of team 25.1

The first reaction to Pembroke W1 coming bottom of Division 1 in 2019 is how can this have happened? How can a squad which contains seven players who played for Ireland in 2019 not be the best in the province? As always, these things can have more than one reason. Availability amongst that seven wasn't great, although Shauna Kavanagh, Louise Little and Clare Shillington all played ten games or more. The two highest scoring batters did have limited availability though, with Kim Garth only playing six matches and Mary Waldron only playing seven. That was enough for both to make Team of the Year though, Garth with 258 runs at 86, and Waldron with 227 at 45.4. In addition to those Kavanagh made 184 at 23, Orla Prendergast scored 163 at 20.38 and Shillington 148 at 21.14. As with Malahide, no bowler got to the ten wicket mark, with Anna Beale (9 at 19.11), Louise Little (9 at 27.67) and Orla Prendergast (9 at 20.89) being best. We will finish with one stat. In the six games that Kim Garth played, Pembroke won five and lost one.

This article was edited on October 2nd to correct a scorecard from a Leinster/Malahide match. As a result, some Leinster and Malahide stats changed, as well as Ava Canning replacing Cassie Stephens on the Team of the Year.

The full Division 1 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here