Division 1 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2016) - Kenny Carroll (Railway Union) - 2499 runs @ 42.36
Most runs in a Division 1 season - Daniel Solway (Pembroke) - 851 runs (2016)
Highest score - Charles Wakim (Clontarf) - 171* - Clontarf 1 vs Railway Union 1 - Castle Avenue - 6 August 2016
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2016) - Eddie Richardson (North County) - 147 wkts @ 16.39
Most wickets in a Division 1 season - Eddie Richardson (North County) - 37 wkts (2015)
Best bowling - Jack Tector - 8-40 - YMCA 1 vs Clontarf 1 - Castle Avenue - 18 August 2012
Most matches - Dom Joyce (Merrion) - 79 - (2011-2016)
Highest team score - 353-4 - Merrion 1 vs Railway Union 1 - Anglesea Road - 11 July 2015
Lowest team score - 59 all out - Clontarf 1 vs Leinster 1 - Castle Avenue - 28 April 2012 and Phoenix 1 vs Clontarf 1 - Castle Avenue - 4 Sept 2016
Team of the Year (in batting order) - Kenny Caroll (Railway Union), Daniel Solway (Pembroke), Simmi Singh (YMCA), Albert van der Merwe (The Hills), Eddie Richardson (North County), Max Sorensen (The Hills), Eoghan Delany (Clontarf), Alex Cusack (Clontarf), James Parkinson (YMCA), Jamie Grassi (North County), Paul Lawson (Pembroke)
Review
NB - The recognised career stats for Leinster Division 1 and 2 cricket are "Senior" runs and wickets (league and Leinster Senior Cup). These are currently in the process of being transferred to Sportstatz. In the meantime, career stats are only available for the period 2011-2016.
Runs per wicket for all teams - 25.72 Runs per over for all teams - 4.89
Clontarf 1 - Champions - Batting Rating 137 - Bowling Rating 132 - RpO for 5.26 - RpO against 4.72
Clontarf 1 dominated Division 1 in 2016, losing three matches, but never being really threatened. It was their 13th Senior League/Division 1 title, and the third time they had won back to back titles, after 1991/92 and 1995/96. There were a few changes in personnel from the 2015 title winning team, but nothing major, and the new players slotted in well. It was a simple formula - pile up a stack of runs, which was easy with some of the province's top players, and strength in depth. And then let loose a well balanced bowling attack. Very few teams were up to the task. Charlie Wakim led the way with 539 runs at 44.92, including 171* against Railway Union, the highest score recorded in Division 1. Bill Coghlan wasn't too far behind with 517 runs at 39.77. The big run getters keep on coming though. The retiring Alex Cusack scored 393 runs at 56.14, skipper Eoghan Delany saw many games home with 364 runs at 52, and Robert Forrest had his best ever season with 332 runs at 30.18. And the strength in depth that Clontarf had is illustrated by the fact that Andrew Poynter had a comparatively poor season with 249 runs at 22.64, but was hardly missed. The bowling was beautifully balanced. David Delany had a breakthrough season, bowling with pace, and taking 14 wickets at 27.79. Joe Morrissey gave nothing away at the other end, with 18 wickets at 21.72. If those two were seen off, there was a certain Alex Cusack to torment - he finished with 25 wickets at 14.68. And then Wakim (14 wickets at 23.36) and Sameer Dutt (18 at 17.44) were there to complete the job. Alex Cusack will be missed in 2018, but Clontarf will still be the team to beat.
Pembroke 1 - Runners up - Batting Rating 120 - Bowling Rating 114 - RpO for 4.86 - RpO against 4.69
It may seem as if Pembroke 1 have been the habitual bridesmaids over the last few seasons, but this is in fact their first runners-up spot for a long, long time and as such was a great achievement. The crucial game in terms of Pembroke losing the league was a three wicket loss to Clontarf in early August, but they fought the champions pretty much all the way. The batting strength was built on the record breaking skills of Daniel Solway, who broke the record for most runs in a Division 1 season with 851 all told at an astounding 85.10. The supporting cast were all pretty young and Irish qualified. Lorcan Tucker's season was rewarded with Irish selection, his league form of 440 runs at 44.44 doing no harm. Theo Lawson wasn't too far behind with 380 runs at 34.55, and Danny Hogan had his first major year in Division 1 with 281 runs at 25.55. They didn't quite have the depth of Clontarf, but Solway scored enough runs for two players. The bowling was led by O'Grady Cup winner Paul Lawson, who led the entire division with 29 wickets at 17.83. David Murphy was next with an unheralded 23 at 20.35 and Fiachra Tucker was solid with 21 at 25.24. Not quite as impressive, but still supporting well were another Ireland player, Josh Little with 15 at 26.87 and Jack Balbirnie who crept under the radar with an excellent 14 wickets at 17.79. It has been said before, but next year could be Pembroke's, and expect them to battle with Clontarf all year.
North County 1 - 3rd - Batting Rating 102 - Bowling Rating 104 - RpO for 5.13 - RpO against 4.96
Another year when North County 1 were written off, and another year when they out performed, to finish in a second successive top three finish. The batting stats make for astounding reading. Eight players passed 100 runs, but only four passed 200 - James Willoughby with 209 at 23.22, skipper Jonathan Andrews with 287 at 22.08 and Jamie Grassi with 297 at 22.85. None of those are really batting performances of a top three team, but the fourth player more than makes up for it. Eddie Richardson is a phenomenon who doesn't quite receive the recognition he derserves. Long considered the best bowler in Leinster cricket, he is also one of the very best batsmen. This year he scored 691 run at 69.10, lifting the Marchant Cup in the process, perhaps not carrying North County on his own, but definitely turning them from a relegation threatened team to one that challenges for leagues. To go with his 691 runs were a nearly as impressive 24 wickets at 20.17. What a player. The bowling was made up of a useful quintet who go the job done more often than not. Three players took sixteen wickets - Andrew Sheridan at 23.94, Terry Richardson at 32.5 and Adam Coughlan at 19.88. The fifth member of the group was Conor Shiel, going about his business with 13 wickets at 27.38.
The Hills 1 - 4th - Batting Rating 117 - Bowling Rating 95 - RpO for 4.86 - RpO against 4.92
In 2015 The Hills 1's batting nearly cost them - in 2016 it was the bowling that needed a bit more. Saying that, fourth place is not to be sniffed at, even if finishing half a point behind neighbours North County has got to hurt. It wouldn't be fair to point out players who had bad seasons with the bat, but there is nothing wrong with saying plenty of players succeeded, and if everyone did, The Hills would have scored 300 every week. Max Sorenson was the leading league run scorer with 458 at 57.25 (including a brutal 65 ball 102* to beat North County), but it was by no means a one man show. Dane Hamid Shah scored 446 runs at 34.41, not bad in a debut season; new Lightning coach Albert van der Merwe had 316 at 31.6; Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin signalled a return to form with 290 at 24.17 and Manu Kumar chipped in with distinctly useful 218 runs at 21.8. Van der Merwe completed a fine allround season with 29 wickets at 17.52 but where The Hills fell short was with the rest of the bowling - all pretty good, but not up with the stats of Clontarf, Pembroke or North County. Sorensen had 14 wickets at 23.86, Naseer Shoukat had 13 at 28.69 and Luke Clinton had 10 at 27. All good but very mid table.
YMCA 1 - 5th - Batting Rating 92 - Bowling Rating 108 - RpO for 4.67 - RpO against 4.56
Things were looking a little dicey for YMCA 1 on July 17, as the 2014 champions had only won two matches from the first six. But then a dramatic one wicket win against Clontarf kick started YM, and they won four of the last five to achieve mid table safety. Where that leaves YMCA is an interesting question. They undoubtedly felt the loss of Albert van der Merwe back to The Hills, but that wasn't the reason why they finished fifth. More likely was the under-performance of several batsmen. Only four got to 200 runs for the season, with Sam Murphy scoring 208 at 23.11, Tom Fisher 291 at 24.35 and Jack Tector 214 at 19.45. The one batsmen to really play to his potential was the exceptional Simmi Singh, who scored 493 runs at 49.3, as well as 21 wickets at 18.52 - an all rounder performance that gave him the award for top all rounder in Division 1. The bowlers did remarkably well, considering there weren't many of them, and non-bowlers were required to turn their arm over at times. As well as Singh, James Parkinson was the go to man with 24 wickets at 17.4, Yaqoob Ali took 15 at 22.87 and Harry Tector had his first full season in Division 1 with 11 wickets at 28. As it stands YMCA are a solid Division 1 team who are neck and neck with North County and The Hills. How they break out of that group will be down to the plans for 2017.
Phoenix 1 - 6th - Batting Rating 84 - Bowling Rating 90 - RpO for 4.57 - RpO against 4.64
This season was the first time in the last six years that both teams who were promoted from Division 2 the season before managed to avoid relegation the season after. Phoenix 1 were the second half of that equation, and just about managed to hold on to their Division 1 status, despite a few nervous weeks at the back end of the year. A decent start to the season (four wins from the first six) then stalled, as Phoenix lost the next five. A three wicket DLS win over North County was ultimately the match that kept them up. But although the team only narrowly avoided relegation, there was definite quality - running up 340 against The Hills probably the highlight. Everyone guessed that the trio of Pretorius, Strydom and Anderson would perform - the question was how many of the others would support them? The answer is probably six. Getting the three top performances out of the way first, Strydom was pretty much his normal self - destructive with the bat (423 runs at 30.21) and dependable with the ball (16 wickets at 26.75), Pretorius hit 395 at 28.21 and Anderson scored 361 at 25.79 and took 11 wickets at 30.18. Those performances were ok, but no way near the level required to win the league. Masud Ahmed was up with Anderson with the bat, scoring 322 at 26.83, and Adam Chester hit 263 at 23.91, including 82 in that win over The Hills. But there was no one scoring those runs at a high enough average. The bowling was better, as Rory Anders' development continued with 20 wickets at 23.90, brother Thomas wasn't too far behind with 11 at 25.91, and Ben White was distinctly useful with 15 at 30. So the season was a success in terms of staying in Division 1 - time to do the same thing again!
Railway Union 1 - 7th - Batting Rating 80 - Bowling Rating 82 - RpO for 4.67 - RpO against 5.18 (Stats do not include the Division 1/2 play off match)
It may not feel like it in Park Avenue, but relegation to Division 2 may not be the worst thing to happen to Railway Union 1. Clontarf and The Hills have both dropped down in recent years and come back stronger, and regrouping wiil be key. It was nearly the great escape, as needing to win their last three games to get into Division 1 for 2017, they won the first two, only to fail in the play off to Leinster. Several players put in astounding seasons, but as ever, the more players you have are contributing, the greater the chance of success. And with only four (or perhaps five) players really achieving in 2016, Railway were always going to stuggle. Kenny Carroll was peerless - 592 runs at 49.33. Mo Tariq also put in a brilliant season with 472 runs at 36.31 and 10 wickets at 27.7. Charlith Fernando was useful without being dominant - 239 runs at 21.73 and 15 wickets at 34.80. That just leaves so so seasons for Adrian Murphy (221 runs at 17 with the bat) and Saad Ullah (10 wickets at 29.4). Railway will be back.
Merrion 1 - 8th - Batting Rating 86 - Bowling Rating 78 - RpO for 5.11 - RpO against 5.53
Merrion 1's 2016 season will be discussed for decades. Irish Senior Cup champions, probably one of the best three or four teams on the island....and relegated from Division 1. The start of the season wasn't too bad. Only one of the first four games was won, but the losses were to the top sides, Clontarf, Pembroke and YMCA. But when consecutive games to Railway, North County and Clontarf were lost in July, it was plain to see that trouble was ahead. On the surface, Merrion's batting stats don't look too bad. However, with six of their fourteen games being in the run scoring paradise of Anglesea Road (where the average runs per wicket is three runs higher than in the league as a whole), Merrion batsmen should be scoring a good bit higher than others - and that didn't happen. Six players had satisfactory seasons - passing 100 runs for the season but not getting to 200 runs, and it was those that needed to perform in order to get Merrion up the table. Three batsmen went on to have substantial totals - Dom Joyce (471 at 36.23), John Anderson (351 at 43.88) and Tyrone Kane (343 at 34.3). The bowling was a similar story, although no one really had seasons to be proud of. Tom Stanton led the way with 15 wickets at 33.27, Dom Joyce had 14 at 32.71, Dave Langford-Smith was the only one to average under 30 with 13 wickets at 26.77, and Tyrone Kane had 11 at 38. Whilst Merrion's batsmen struggled at home, averaging 22.26 runs per wicket, the opposition made hay, averaging 37.76. As with Railway, Merrion now have an excellent opportunity to regroup for 2017.
The full Division 1 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here.