Women's Division 2 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2016-2019) - Carole McGuire (Rush) - 770 runs @ 38.50
Most runs in a Division 2 season - Erin Lawler (Clontarf) - 575 runs (2016)
Highest score - Lucy Small - 143* - North Kildare W1 vs Malahide W2 - Malahide 1 - 26 Jul 2018
Leading all time wicket taker (2016-2019) - Emma Ryan (Rush) - 40 wkts @ 18.18
Most wickets in a Division 2 season - Hannah Clarke (Clontarf) - 21 wkts (2017)
Best bowling - Orla Martin - 6-6 - Phoenix W1 vs The Hills W2 - The Vineyard - 10 May 2017
Most matches - Emma Ryan (Rush)- 37 (2017-2019)
Highest team score - 219-4 - North Kildare W1 vs Pembroke W2 - Sydney Parade 1 - 16 Jul 2018
Lowest team score - 30 all out - Phoenix W1 vs Rush W1 - The Maws - 17 Jul 2018
Team of the Year
Batters: Cliodhna O'Reardon (The Hills), Melissa Scott Hayward (North Kildare), Laura Carthy (Rush). Rebecca Rolfe (Leinster), Aoife Brennan (Clontarf)
Wicketkeeper: Isabel Saeed-Maguire (Leinster)
Bowlers: Katie Dillon (Leinster) (Div 3 (2019)), Eleanor Doherty (Leinster), Mary Kate McLoughlin (Leinster), Shana Ngai (North Kildare), Sarah Brophy (Malahide)
Review
In Women's Division 2, two games resulted in sides being given walkovers, one match was played but a scorecard was not submitted and six matches were not played for other reasons (including rain).
Runs per wicket for all teams - 16.24 Runs per over for all teams - 5.41
Leinster W2 - Champions - (Pos in league - 7 (2018 - 8)) - Batting Rating 147 - Bowling Rating 163 - RpO for 5.94 - RpO against 4.27 - Youth %age (by appearances) 78.0% - Average age of team 20.0
Leinster W2 retained their 2018 title with a resounding season, losing only once in 12 matches on the field. And although the gap was only 16 point between first and second, North Kildare were never quite in a position to challenge, especially after Leinster had beaten them for the second time in late July. Leinster's bowling attack was their not so secret weapon, and with five players taking at least ten wickets, they were never over reliant on any one bowler. Three of those five made are team of the year. Katie Dillon made yet another Team of the Year (after already being named in the Division 3 equivalent), taking an incredible 13 wickets at 4.38. Mary Late McLoughlin was leading wicket taker with 15 wickets at 7.80, and Eleanor Doherty took 13 wickets at 7.62. With those three leading the attack, it is not hard to see why Leinster were so successful. The attack was completed by Ava Canning (11 at 10.18) and Beth Dimond (10 at 10.5). It meant that Leinster took at least seven wickets in all but one of their attempts. As a result, the batting wasn't needed quite as much, although it was still the second best in the division. Rebecca Rolfe scored 223 at 37.17 (being the team's one batting representative on the Team of the Year), Hannah Ridgeway scored 192 at 96, Jenny Sparrow 134 at 19.14 and Aoife Livingston 112 at 16. Leinster W2 will be very much the team to beat again in 2020.
North Kildare W1 - 2nd - (Pos in league - 8 (2018 - 9)) - Batting Rating 157 - Bowling Rating 125 - RpO for 6.83 - RpO against 4.84 - Youth %age (by appearances) 20.9% - Average age of team 29.9
For the second season in a row, North Kildare W1 were beaten into second place by Leinster W2, but they move up the pecking order in Leinster cricket due to overtaking The Hills W1 (who dropped from Div 1 to Div 2). The season was built around two Team of the Year performances from Melissa Scott Hayward and Shana Ngai. Scott Hayward was brilliant with the bat, scoring 515 runs at 85.83, with the full list of innings worth noting - 45*, 3*, 38*, 19, 67, 69*, 29*, 40, 5 ,93*, 24*, 37, 46. Ngai was as impressive with the ball, taking 20 wickets at 8.45 across the season, with a best of 5-5 against The Hills. Both were the highest totals recorded in Division 2 this year, and in Scott Hayward's case, the second best batter was 170 runs behind. The two Leinster defeats were the main blemishes, and if either of those had been reversed, North Kildare would have won the league. It wasn't a squad merely dominated by those two players though - plenty of others contributed. With the bat, Zoe Lipson scored 122 at 17.43, Naomi Scott Hayward hit 118 at 19.67 and Ngai starred with bat as well with 159 at 22.71. Three other players got to ten league wickets - Mickaela Bursey (14 wickets at 13.21), Rose Neuman Jones (11 at 15.55) and Laoise Neuman Jones (10 at 17.40).
Rush W1 - 3rd - (Pos in league - 9 (2018 - 10)) - Batting Rating 107 - Bowling Rating 80 - RpO for 6.17 - RpO against 5.27 - Youth %age (by appearances) 49.3% - Average age of team 22.2
Rush W1 finished the season in third place, ensuring an identical 1-2-3 for Division 2 as in 2018. They have risen one place up the rankings, leapfrogging The Hills W1, and finishing as the 8th best 1st team in the province. The performance of the season was the away win over Leinster, the only game the champions lost in the league. Rush's total of 128 was built around a brilliant display from Laura Carthy, who scored 61 with the next highest score being 9. At 98-3, Leinster still had a chance (although time was running out) before Rachel Bolton took 4-12 as the Leinster tail went for runs. Carthy was the team's sole member of the Team of the Year, with 345 runs at 38.33, receiving further batting support from Rebecca Gough (177 at 19.67) and Christine Doyle (168 at 16.80). The batting was Rush's strong point though, with only Phoenix and Pembroke being rated as having as weak bowling attacks. Emma Ryan was the shining light here with 15 wickets at 16.87.
The Hills W1 - 4th - (Pos in league - 10 (2018 - 6)) - Batting Rating 161 - Bowling Rating 111 - RpO for 5.95 - RpO against 5.53 - Youth %age (by appearances) 0% - Average age of team 21.8
Off field problems saw The Hills W1 drop down a division for 2019, but they responded well, with a mid table finish. As with many teams who finish mid table, the season can seem pretty humdrum. They beat the teams at the bottom of the table; lost to those above them - the very definition of a mid table team. The win over Rush in May was the highlight, July's loss to Malahide at the other end of the scale. Throughout the ups and downs, Cliodhna O'Reardon was the star. In only seven matches, the 17 year old clocked up 329 runs at 109.67 - the seven innings being 12, 33*, 51, 30, 82*, 50* and 71* to make our Team of the Year. One other batter passed 100 runs, with Amy Benson scoring 160 at 26.67. The bowling perhaps missed O'Reardon's start quality but Aimee Maguire did well with 12 wickets at 11.42.
Pembroke W2 - 5th - (Pos in league - 11 (2018 - 12)) - Batting Rating 75 - Bowling Rating 78 - RpO for 4.21 - RpO against 6.20 - Youth %age (by appearances) 40.4% - Average age of team 31.6
An incredible 29 players turned out for Pembroke W2 across the season. With such a turnover of players, it is always going to be difficult to put together a strong league campaign. Against that, such numbers are always healthy in a club. Another way of looking at it is that 42 players played for Pembroke all season, with all but 13 playing for the 2nds at some point! (And to be fair, these figures aren't that different to the only other club with three teams, Leinster, who had the same 42 players in total, with 21 playing for the seconds). Only two matches were won on the pitch (with another couple being awarded off the pitch), and with those two factors combined not too many players are likely to have had productive seasons! Eimear Mullen was the one batter to pass 100 runs for the season (126 at 31.5) and the leading wicket taker was Anna Beale with 9 wickets at 15.22.
Malahide W2 - 6th - (Pos in league - 12 (2018 - 13)) - Batting Rating 62 - Bowling Rating 83 - RpO for 4.22 - RpO against 5.93 - Youth %age (by appearances) 87.5% - Average age of team 18.1
A young Malahide W2 team held their own in Division 2, moving one up in the pecking order, overtaking The Hills' second string who dropped out of the league. If was a tough first half of the season, with the team's first win not coming until July 23 when they beat The Hills by 4 wickets. From then on, things improved, with three of the last six being won. Malahide's one member of the Team of the Year was Sarah Brophy, who played nine matches and took 18 wickets at 8.83 - only North Kildare's Shana Ngai took more. On the batting front, Sorcha O'Carolan Murphy piled on the runs after leading the way for Dublin University's Division 3 season. Back for Malahide, she scored 131 runs at 21.83.
Phoenix W1 - 7th - (Pos in league - 13 (2018 - 15)) - Batting Rating 75 - Bowling Rating 66 - RpO for 5.11 - RpO against 6.34 - Youth %age (by appearances) 54.3% - Average age of team 25.0
Phoenix W2 finished in 7th place in the league, with their two place jump up the overall rankings being on the back of the Hills W2 and Merrion W2 both dropping out of the league. Three wins on the pitch provided the highlights, with two in a week across mid July, when Pembroke and Clontarf were beaten. According to our analysis, the bowling attack was the worst in the division, and the batting only better than Malahide's, so individual performances are thin on the ground. As with the 2nd team, Liz Moreton led the way with the bat with 198 runs at 24.75, and there were also decent seasons from Georgina Dempsey (156 at 31.2) and Hannah McGuckin (100 at 10). No bowler got to 10 wickets, with Ali Keenan being the best with 9 wickets at 26.44.
Clontarf W2 - 8th - (Pos in league - 14 (2018 - 16)) - Batting Rating 84 - Bowling Rating 101 - RpO for 4.22 - RpO against 5.93 - Youth %age (by appearances) 62.9% - Average age of team 22.2
With a first team challenging at the top of Division 1, last place in Division 2 must be seen as something as a disappointment for Clontarf W2. There were two homes wins, against Malahide and Phoenix, but the rest of the season was fruitless in terms of victories (and it is acknowledged that there is much more to sport than that!). According to the stats, we have them rated as the fifth best team in the division, but sometimes it is just difficult to paint a picture of where it went wrong. One more boundary against Rush in mid June would have been enough to overcome a three run defeat, which would have lifted Clontarf to 6th place. On such small margins........Aoife Brennan was the leading batter, making our Division 2 Team of the Year as a result of her performances. She scored 205 runs at 29.29, never scoring more than 37, but getting past 15 on seven occasions. Moly Buter scored159 at 13.25, Keeva Vickers 153 at 15.3 and Christina Coulter Reilly, 126 at 18. As with the batting, the bowling looks good enough on the surface. Emma Butler took 14 at 19.5, Coulter Reilly 11 at 15.82 and Molly Butler 10 at 20.70. But when bowlers from other teams were taking a similar number of wickets at half the average, it is perhaps easier to see why Tarf came towards the bottom.
The full Division 2 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here