Division 10 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2017) - Peter Auret (Slieve Bloom) - 911 runs @ 33.03
Most runs in a Division 10 season - Anto Coates (Ringcommons) - 600 runs (2013)
Highest score - Peter Auret - 184 - Slieve Bloom 1 vs Terenure 3 - Terenure - 16 May 2015
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2017) - Nick Jagoe (Railway Union) - 55 wkts @ 13.25
Most wickets in a Division 10 season - Anto Coates (Ringcommons) - 29 wkts (2013)
Best bowling - Sandeep Sood - 9-15 - Civil Service 3 vs Malahide 5 - Civil Service - 3 July 2011
Most matches - Paul Byrne (Railway Union ) - 45 - (2013-2016)
Highest team score - 355-3 - YMCA 4 vs North Kildare 3 - Claremont Road - 27 Aug 2011
Lowest team score - 38 all out - Pembroke 5 vs Railway Union 5 - Sydney Parade - 4 Aug 2013
Team of the Year (in batting order) - Muhammad Mudassar Zahid (Dundalk), Sandeep Shahdeo (Cabinteely), Cavon Hall (Mullingar), Khalid Hossain (Clondalkin) (Division 11, 2016), Bilal Chauhan (Castleknock), Andrew Williams (Dundalk) (Division 9, 2016), Muhammed Nurulain Boda (Castleknock) (Division 10, 2016 and Division 6, 2016), Munir Khan (Clondalkin), Sajan Jayaseelan (Dundalk), Shiva Katta (Adamstown, wicketkeeper), Abul Shapon (Clondalkin)
Review
Runs per wicket for all teams - 20.02 Runs per over for all teams - 4.63
Greystones 2 - Champions - (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 127 - Bowling Rating 121 - RpO for 4.63 - RpO against 4.27
After predicting Greystones 2 for greatness in previous years, we decided not to bother this year. Which of course meant they lifted their second ever league title, to add to Division 11 in 2013. To say it was an easy task wouldn't quite be true. After five games of the season, Greystones had won one, received a walkover from Mullingar and lost three others - not quite the form of champions. From then on fortunes changed, with six of the last seven games being won. Why the turn around? Quite simply the batsmen found a bit of form. In those first five teams, Greystones didn't make more than 153 and only one batsman - Ashley Kempton averaged over 20. The second half of the season saw a dominant batting display in all matches except the one they lost to Adamstown, and nine batsmen averaged over 20. And that is all the explanation that is needed! The fact that nine batsmen averaged over 20 for the entire season (as well as four bowlers taking more than 10 wickets) also means that unfortunately there are no Greystones representatives on our Team of the Year. The runs and wickets were shared around, and there was no requirement for the type of dominant displays needed to make our representative eleven. Sinto John led the way with bat and ball - 223 runs at 31.86 and 15 wickets at 13.8, with Manpreet Singh not too far behind with 204 runs at 29.14 and 15 wickets at 17.6. Martin Potts had another solid all round season with 142 runs at 35.5 and 12 wickets at 16.33, with the other bowler of note bring Brian Pappas with 14 wickets at 14.64. The three other batsmen to pass 100 runs were Ashley Kempton (116 at 38.76 after his early season success), Paul Daniel (111 at 15.86) and Stephen McGrath (112 at 37.33). The task for 2018 will be to finish in mid table in Division 9, which would be the team's highest ever finish.
Dundalk 1 - Runners up - (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 129 - Bowling Rating 86 - RpO for 5.38 - RpO against 5.01
A wonderful season for Dundalk 1 (pictured above after their August win over Adamstown) - as long as they were playing away. In six matches in Dromiskin, they won only two, with a net run rate of -0.56. Once they left the wide open spaces of home, Dundalk were a different beast, winning five of six matches, with a net run rate of +1.47. As for the reasons why, it may be best to ask the players concerned, but if the team can improve their home record, they will be a force to be reckoned with! Their first three matches were all at home - and hence all lost. Five of the next six were away, five were won and Dundalk's season was up and running. A word first for Umer Khan who made his Cricket Leinster debut in August, played in four of their last six games, and scored 47*, 60*, 69* and 43 to end up with an average of 219. Unfortunately he didn't play the five games required to make our Team of the Year. Three Dundalk players did play enough though. Andrew Williams was good enough to make the cut in Division 9 (as a bowler), so not surprisingly was good enough in Diviison 10 as well. He scored 236 runs at 33.71 and took 18 wickets at 14.22. It was his best season for Dundalk since 2012 - in all cricket for Dundalk he now has 1086 runs at 20.11 and 110 wickets at 13.84 - the first Dundalk player with 100 wickets. The next outstanding Dundalk player this year was another player new to Cricket Leinster, Muhammad Mudassar Zahid who scored 293 runs at 36.62 and 17 wickets at 13.41. Finally, we come to Dundalk's record run scorer, Sajan Jayaseelan, who scored 274 runs at 45.67, a welcome return to form after a poor 2016. With three players of that quality, all the rest had to do was chip in when they could - Waqas Khan scored 187 runs at 26.71, Regin Samuel 181 runs at 30.17 and Haroon Khan 13 wickets at 17.23. A word of caution though. Only once (in 2011) have Dundalk 1 finished lower than this year's 73rd.
Clondalkin 1 - 3rd - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 99 - Bowling Rating 115 - RpO for 4.64 - RpO against 4.34
An eight place improvement for Clondalkin 1 on their first season in 2016. They narrowly missed out on promotion, and there is probably a small worry regarding the number of players who were major contributors. But to be honest, when you have two of the star performers of Leinster cricket in your ranks it probably doesn't matter. Munir Khan made his Leinster debut in 2014, and has now reached 100 career wickets at the 6th lowest average of those who have taken 100 wickets since 2014. He still has the second best bowling figures by a bowler in Open Competitions since 2011 - 8-5 for Civil Service in 2015, and this year was instrumental in Clondalkin's third place, with 20 wickets at 10.15, the most in Division 10 this year. Abul Shapon has been instrumental in the birth of Clondalkin and is one behind Khan as the leading wicket taker for the club. He also makes this year's Team of the Year with with 13 wickets at 11.31. The third star wash Khalid Hossain, who may have taken less wickets than Khan or Shapon, but more than made up for it with runs scored - 263 runs at 37.57. Two more players passed 100 runs - Khurshid Anowar with 146 at 24.33 and Waseem Ashraf with 102 at 14.57. For Clondalkin to move up next year, they will need more players with 15+ wickets and 150 runs.
Longford 2 - 4th - (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 82 - Bowling Rating 105 - RpO for 4.43 - RpO against 4.75
Longford 2's fourth league season resulted in the the third successive season with a rise in league position, this year's 75th beating 2016's 77th. Our rating of the team they suggests they were a bit lucly to get 4th (we had then as the 6th best team). That rating is a little bit skewed by several of Longford's results. Three of their six runs were incredibly close (two by one wicket (Clondalkin and Castleknock), and one by ten runs (Cabinteely)) and a couple of their four defeats were of the large variety (Greystones by 10 wickets at Cabinteely by 138 runs). Whilst the Longford bowling attack suggests a mid table side, the batting was the worst in the division, and we shall start there. The stats don't look too bad - only once (42 ao vs Greystones) were they bowled out for under 100, but there two innings over 170. That translates to a very similar stat on the individual side - seven players reached 100 runs for the season. but no one totalled more than 122! The seven were Shamas Sarfraz, who perhaps not surprisingly for the 1st team star, scored 122 runs at 122. Next was Tayyab Ali (111 at 22.2), then Umar Sarfraz (110 at 55), Kashif Akbar (109 at 15.57), Usman Naveed (106 at 13.25), Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman Raza (103 at 12.88) and Usman Shah (100 at 25). The bowling saw only one bowler get to 10 wickets (although 21 took at least one league wicket!) - Umar Sarfraz taking 12 wickets at 14.08.
Mullingar 2 - 5th - (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 106 - Bowling Rating 115 - RpO for 4.22 - RpO against 4.20
Unfortunately, a theme is going to develop in Mullingar's league reviews. Only two of Mullingar's seven home matches were played, along with four of their away matches. Six matches doesn't make much of a season, although is was enough for Cavon Hall to show his talent with bat and ball. He played in all six games, scoring a brilliant 299 runs at 74.75 along with 14 wickets at 7.14. Calling a team a one man team always feels a little bit harsh, but it is difficult to shy away from. One other player passed 100 runs (Robert Delaney with 108 at 21.60) and one other took 10 wickets (Craig Sweeney with 10 at 13.90). For the six games that were played, Mullingar were ranked as the second best team in the division. But until drainage work is carried out on the ground, they are always going to struggle, by playing half the games that others play.
Adamstown 3 - 6th (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 96 - Bowling Rating 100 - RpO for 4.50 - RpO against 4.72
The ascent of Adamstown 3 has been swift and wonderful to behold - but had to stop at some point. Based on their rocketing league position from 2013-2016, we felt that they had to be favourites for the Division 10. But it was not to be, and instead of another improvement in their league position, they fell from 2016's 75th to 77th. The season just never got going, with a win in May and June and then nothing until September, when oddly they beat both Greystones and Dundalk away! Neither batting nor bowling was spectacularly bad, but if we had to find one reason for the struggle, it would be the 36 players used during the season. Only three players played more than seven matches, and with such a large squad, success rarely follows. Aman Sangwan led the way with the bat with 174 at 58, followed by Shiva Katta (156 at 22.29, but made the Team of the Year as wicketkeeper with most dismissals), Rahul Khanna (139 at 23.17) and Arun Verma (128 at 42.67). The bowling similarly lacked bowlers who dominated, with only two passing ten wickets - Sunny Sehrwat with 16 at 15.56 and Nikhil Chudekar with 10 at 9. Despite all that, Adamstown 3 punch above their weight - with the Adamstown 1st string the 22nd best 1st team in the province, we'd expect to see the 3rds at something like 18th, as opposed to the 11th best that they are.
Castleknock 2 - 7th (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 90 - Bowling Rating 89 - RpO for 4.46 - RpO against 4.78
This set of reviews tries not to get too controversial, and doesn't normally get involved in the murky world of starring. But it a little difficult to ignore in the case of Castleknock 2. Muhammed Nurulain Boda dominated Division 10 in 2016, as well as being the star for Castleknock 1, and also making the Division 6 Team of the Year last year. Whether he makes the Team of the Year in this year's Division 6 remains to be seen, but despite only playing seven matches for the second string this year, he took 14 wickets at 11.43. But despite the qualities of the leader of their attack, the team still struggled. Remarkably, they won their first four matches (with Boda starring in three of them) to sit on top of the league. They then failed to win the next eight (although there was a tie with Longford in the middle). That run was something of a surprise as there was undoubted quality in the squad. Bilal Chauhan joined his team mate in the representative team with an impressive 218 at 36.33, as well as 10 wickets at 19.5 (the only other bowler with 10 wickets). Pardeep Singh was the next of the six batsmen with 100+ runs (with 199 at 19.9), followed by Afkar Ahmed (181 at 36.2), Balbir Singh (121 at 30.25), M Nurulain Boda himself with 108 at 18, and Sajid Imran (102 at 20.4). We surmised that Adamstown 3 were punching above their weight as a 3rd team. Castleknock 2 should be up towards the top of Division 10. Perhaps next year.
Cabinteely 1 - 8th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 91 - Bowling Rating 85 - RpO for 4.62 - RpO against 4.70
In Cabinteely 1's five previous seasons, they never got higher than 2012's 80th place in the league. That puts the 2017 league campaign into perspective - the very worst they could do was 79th, and that was where they came. Of course it may not feel like the most successful season in Cabinteely's short history. There's no getting away from the fact that the only difference between 2016 and 2017 was that this year Cabinteely were playing two divisions higher. Vikalp Jain was again good with 15 wickets at 20.30 (and 131 runs at 13.10), and Piyush Sharma followed up his Team of the Year performance last year with 14 wickets at 17.93. And there were new players, with Sandeep Shahdeo to the fore with 471 runs at 42.82, including five 50s - three of them in the first three innings of the year along with 14 wicket at 18.79. Four other batsmen passed the 100 run mark - Baqar Alam Khan (154 at 22), Bibin Varghese (123 at 15.38), Hareesh Singaraju (109 at 18.17) and Nikhil Katare (104 at 26). Division 11 will be a better test for 2017.
The full Division 10 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here.