Division 11 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2016) - Ali Hashmi (Lucan) - 1129 runs @ 35.28
Most runs in a Division 11 season - Ali Hashmi (Lucan) - 553 runs (2014)
Highest score - Tariq Islam - 239* - Laois 3 vs Bagenalstown 2 - Togher - 15 May 2011
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2016) - Manjinder Singh (Lucan) - 52 wkts @ 17.88
Most wickets in a Division 11 season - Simon Rice (Greystones) - 34 wkts (2013)
Best bowling - Simba Mujeni - 8-6 - Knockharley 2 vs Bagenalstown 2 - McGrath Park - 4 June 2011
Most matches - Shafqat Ayub (Clontarf) - 44 - (2012-2016)
Highest team score - 409-1 - Laois 3 vs Bagenalstown 2 - Togher - 15 May 2011
Lowest team score - 20 all out - North County 5 vs The Hills 4 - Milverton - 29 July 2012
Team of the Year (in batting order) - Sid Nair (Terenure), Robert White (Ringcommons), Brendan Moore (Ringcommons), Anto Coates (Ringcommons), Khalid Hossain (Clondalkin), Jeffrey David (Merrion), Steven Denny (The Hills, wicketkeeper), Muhammad Edrees Kharotai (Ringcommons), Tom Mullen (Terenure), Sean McCann (Rush), Ben McCabe (Clontarf)
Review
Runs per wicket for all teams - 19.17 Runs per over for all teams - 4.48
Ringcommons 1 - Champions - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 236 - Bowling Rating 125 - RpO for 6.19 - RpO against 4.22
Ringcommons 1 were simply awesome in 2016. Their strength was their batting order, which could cause teams problems many leagues higher. Until they lost their final match of the season to Clondalkin 1, it is not too far from the truth to say that not once were they in any sort of trouble all season. A list of their innings makes for impressive reading (an * indicates a successful run chase). 188-2*, 167-4*, 254-6, 100-1*, 120-4*, 378-4, 278-3, 113-5*, 79-2, 116-1* - and then the 108 all out in the last game of the season. That carnage was pretty much down to four players, who scored twelve 50s and one 100 between them - no one else passed 50. Take the applause - Robert White (209 runs at 52.25), Kyle Healy (353 runs at 44.12), Brendan Moore (421 runs at 84.90) and Anto Coates (461 runs at 92.20). And former Ireland player Declan Moore wasn't even required to bat more than seven times, coming in once others had done the work. The bowling was pretty good as well, although only rated as second in the division to Merrion 6. Four bowlers got to at least ten wickets in the season - Robin Chalissery, Brendan Moore and Barry White, but Muhammad Edrees Kharotai was supreme - 16 wickets at 7.50. On the career front, Anto Coates became the first Ringcommons player to score 3000 runs for the club (3086 at 50.59); Kyle Healy became the second to pass 1000 runs (1414 at 31.42) and Robert White the third (1160 at 25.78) whilst Coates completed a brilliant double also becoming the first to 1000 wickets for the club (114 at 16.48) with Barry White not too far behind (106 at 15.78). The league crown went with the Junior Cup and Whelan Cup to complete a brilliant treble. The question is, how can they cope at a higher level? And which level should it be? This year was actually their lowest league position since their first year in 2012 - 81st. Ringcommon's highest position was 75th in 2013.
Clondalkin 1 - Runners up - (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 89 - Bowling Rating 122 - RpO for 4.40 - RpO against 4.03
Ringcommons may have stolen the headlines, but Clondalkin 1 weren't too far behind, with a magical promotion in their first ever season in competitive league cricket. Merrion and Clontarf were ranked slightly higher, but Clondalkin eked out some vital results, none more when in September they became the only team to beat Ringcommons all season, a result that was the difference between them and Clontarf getting promoted. The batting was pretty weak for a promotion winning side, although a couple of players did break the 200 run barrier. Khurshid Anowar held the supporting role with 231 runs at 23.1, whilst top billing went to Syfuzzaman Khan who not only scored 357 runs at 27.46, but also 13 wickets at 23. It was the bowling attack which led the charge for promotion - only Clontarf (twice) and Rush managed to score more than 127 against Clondalkin, andeight teams were bowled out for less than that. Along with Syfuzzaman, two others took 13 wickets - Alamgir Hossain (at 13.46) and Munir Khan (at 18.92) whilst the best return went to Khalid Hossain with 17 at 9.06. A good start to life in league cricket.
Clontarf 5 - 3rd - (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 108 - Bowling Rating 104 - RpO for 4.75 - RpO against 4.25
Oh what might have been. Some excellent results, such as two wins over Clondalkin, Merrion and a win over Rush, should have meant promotion. Instead defeats against bottom half sides such as The Hills, Lucan (twice) and Pembroke meant Clontarf 5 just failed to move up a league, finishing in the same league position as 2015 (83rd). Batting and bowling were reasonably solid, with four players passing 200 runs for the season - Abdul Khan (205 at 29.29), Daragh Devilly (209 at 23.22), Rana Tariq (263 at 21.92) and Shafqat Ayub, who in addition to top scoring for Clontarf (276 runs at 19.67), became the player with most appearances in Division 11 - with 44. Two bowlers stood out - Tariq with 17 wickets at 13.82 and 14 year old Ben McCabe who took 20 wickets at 9.15. Admittedly, the team could have done with one of those 200 scoring batsmen averaging over 30, but if any of the narrow losses had been converted into wins, Clontarf would have gone up. And with losing margins of 2 runs, 1 wicket and 10 runs, there will be plenty of "if onlys" in Clontarf this winter.
Rush 3 - 4th - (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 111 - Bowling Rating 85 - RpO for 4.85 - RpO against 4.86
A satisfactory season for Rush 3, who reversed a worrying recent slide down the league, and made a mockery of our prediction of 7th place. July was tough, with four straight losses, but at each end of the season there were enough wins to leave Rush being another side that only just missed out on promotion. As with Clontarf, it was a solid season for Rush, and it is difficult to pick too many holes. Four batsmen passed 200 runs for the season, with the first three being youth players of varying vintages - Nathan Maguire (208 at 20.8), Noman Shahid (226 at 22.6), Jack McGee (239 at 21.73) and Kashif Rehman (316 at 28.73). Rehman also became the first Rush 3 player to hit 1000 runs (since 2010) with 1320 at 26.40. The bowling was pretty darn useful as well, with four bowlers taking ten wickets or more - the best being Daniel Thorne (14 at 18.0) and Sean McCann (16 at 8.19), and Jack McGee who completed a great season with 18 wickets at 10.28.
Merrion 6 - 5th - (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 91 - Bowling Rating 152 - RpO for 3.69 - RpO against 3.96
Merrion 6 finished pretty much where they were predicted to finish. But that hides the true story. They beat Clondalkin in the one completed match they played (and were saved by light on the other one!), and it could have easily been the story that the only other matches lost were against Ringcommons and Clontarf - which would have been no disgrace. But they also lost to Lucan by one run (collapsing from 80-4 to 99 all out) and also lost to bottom placed Terenure. The batting was distinctly ropey - no one bettered Winston Dassanayake's 168 runs at 33.60 (Dassanayake was also the first Merrion 6 player to pass 1000 runs in all cricket with 1046 at 30.76). But the ball was a different story - albeit one not quite explained by the individual stats. Jeffrey David took 16 wikets at 9.69 and Gary Morris 12 at 12.17. Amazingly, the highest score accumulated against Merrion all season was Clontarf 5's 138-8. Five more were bowled ut for 100 or less, and Rush 3 and Terenure were bowled out for 129 and 122 respecitively. There may not have been many bowlers having stellar seasons, but as a unit, Merrion 6's bowlers definitely performed!
The Hills 4 - 6th (Predicted 9th) - Batting Rating 89 - Bowling Rating 82 - RpO for 4.20 - RpO against 4.81
For the second year in row, The Hills 4 improved their league position, and they are now back at the 86th place they were last in in 2012. The highlight of the season was undoubtedly the one wicket win over Clontarf in August, Matthew Richards' 81 seeting up a fine chase of 187. There were five other wins, and although The Hills never looked like grabbing a promotion spot, they never really looked like relgation material either. Richards was the one player to score more than 200 runs, scoring 308 at 28, with six others passing 100 runs. The bowling was also there and there abouts. Ghulam Jillani took 15 wickets at 16.33 to lead the way, with Keiron Phillips and Ryan Tobin providing experience and youth respectively with the back up bowling.
Lucan 1 - 7th (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 79 - Bowling Rating 98 - RpO for 4.14 - RpO against 4.28
A disappointing season for Lucan 1, whose league position slipped for the first time since they started league cricket in 2013. It doesn't require too much digging to find the reason, with the batting line up being ranked the worst in the divison. Ali Hashmi had a poor season by his standards with 176 run 25.14, although he did become the highest run scorer in Division 11 history with 1129 runs at 35.28. Rees Ahmed had an excellent season with 312 runs at 39.0, but no one else passed 200 runs. The problem can be seen by the fact that they were bowled out for under 130 eight times. The bowling held up well, with Shahbaz Ahmed taking 18 wickets at 10.06 and Manjinder Singh taking 15 wickets at 22.87. With the set back of 2016, Lucan could be entering a worrying phase, with only two players being now younger than 30.
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Terenure 3 - 8th (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 97 - Bowling Rating 78 - RpO for 4.37 - RpO against 4.59
A bad year for Terenure 3, who had good things predicted, but who dropped ten places from their 2015 finishing position, and are now over two leagues below in 2011. Two of their three wins were thumping victories with Tom Mullen hitting 109* in a 166 run win over Pembroke 5, and Mullen (95*) and Sid Nair (165*) putting on an unbroken 289 for the 1st wicket, on the way to a 105 run win over The Hills. That partnership was the highest 1st wicket partnership in Open Competitions cricket since Masud Ahmed and Amit Battan put on 311 for Phoenix 2 against North Kildare 1 in July 2011, and the highest for any wicket for Terenure sonce Tom Fisher and Richard Lawrence put on 322 for the 2nd wicket against Leinster 2 in Division 2 in 2013. Not surprisingly, Nair and Mullen were the starts of the Terenure batting in 2016 - Mullen with 253 runs at 50.60 and Nair with 475 runs at 47.5. Nair's total was the second highest in a Division 11 season, and is also the fifth highest number of runs for Terenure in a league season since 2011. The top four performances are all 1st team players - Richard Lawrence (495 for Terenure 1 in 2013), Ben Speake (566 for Terenure 1 in 2015), Andre Botha (626 for Terenure 1 in 2011) and Tom Fisher (690 for Terenure 1in 2013). The bowling was not quite of the same record breaking quality. Not a single bowler managed to get their wicket tally in to double figures.
Pembroke 5 - 9th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 89 - Bowling Rating 82 - RpO for 4.20 - RpO against 4.81
A really tough season for the Pembroke junior sides. It was always going to be tough for Pembroke 5, but player numbers added to the problems of playing in a league that always looked to be tough. The three wins were decent, with Clontarf, Clondalkin and Lucan all being beaten. The Clontarf win was an especially good one, coming as it did in Craig Senior's last game for Pembroke - for now (see below). Pembroke 5's fall has not been quite as dramatic as that of Terenure 3 since 2011, but it is dramatic all the same - a fall of fourteen league places in six seasons. Neither batting nor bowling really offered any respite. Sean Smith was the top run scorer with 165 runs at 20.62, Craig Senior the leading bowler with 12 wickets at 12.33 despite not playing after July. Simon Heaney became the second Pembroke 5 batsman to 1000 runs (after Sean Smith) with 1038 runs at 21.18. And in a fitting touch, Craig Senior became the first Pembroke 5 bowler to take 100 wickets (since our records began), when he dismissed Samuel Ritchie for his last wicket for Pembroke before departing to Nigeria. A season to forget about, and one to move on from.
The full Division 11 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here.