Division 12 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2017) - Aidan Chester (Phoenix) - 774 runs @ 51.50
Most runs in a Division 12 season - Muhammad Junaid Ashfaq (Phoenix) - 533 runs (2017)
Highest score - Shyam Bharti - 138 - Sandyford 2 vs Malahide 5 - Malahide 1 - 25 June 2016
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2017) - Stuart Gallagher (Halverstown, Civil Service) - 65 wkts @ 16.94
Most wickets in a Division 12 season - Azhar Abdullah (Cabinteely) - 26 wkts (2015)
Best bowling - Shailendra Mishra - 7-34 - Cabinteely 1 vs Phoenix 5 - Phoenix - 4 Sept 2016
Most matches - Stuart Gallagher (Halverstown, Civil Service) (2013-2016) and Graham Mooney (Phoenix) (2012-2016) - 44
Highest team score - 333-9 - Adamstown 3 vs Dublin University 3 - Corkagh Park - 27 July 2014
Lowest team score - 12 all out - Merrion 7 vs Malahide 5 - Malahide - 15 Aug 2015
Team of the Year (in batting order) - Sanjay Pahuja (Merrion), Mark Sandys (Merrion), Anand Joshi (Sandyford), Muhammad Junaid Ashfaq (Phoenix), Shyam Bharti (Sandyford), Ajay Shastry (Sandyford), Gurninder Singh (Sandyford), Michael McDonough (Phoenix, wicketkeeper), Colm Reilly (Balbriggan) (Division 14, 2016), Tariq Quadri (Civil Service), Rishabh Sharma (Merrion) (Division 12, 2016)
Review
Runs per wicket for all teams - 19.50 Runs per over for all teams - 4.62
Balbriggan 3 - Champions - (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 118 - Bowling Rating 130 - RpO for 4.48 - RpO against 4.13
A hugely impressive season for Balbriggan 3, who improved on their 2016 finishing position by 18 places to take the Division 12 title, the second in their history after last year's Division 14 title (the most recent photo of the team, in 2015, pictured above). The season was one of two parts - the first five matches were won, and by the time they lost their first match on August 13, the finishing line was in site. Two more wins were enough to pip Sandyford 2 by four percentage points. Three players passed 100 runs for the season, and three took more than 10 wickets, and by looking at what they were doing last year, we get a good idea of how the team improved by so much! Colm Reilly was the one constant. He made the Team of the Year in Division 14 in 2016, and did the same again this year, with 236 runs at 29.5. Niall McElearney was a constant in the team last year, but was hardly needed. This year was different, and he contributed 155 at 25.83. Chris MacMahon also came to the party after a few lean years, but contributed to three matches, scoring 138 runs whilst only being dismissed once. It may seem insignificant, but those three were games were the three won in the second half of the season when it was threatening to fall apart. The bowling also benefitted from players having good seasons. Steven Anderson only played three league games for the team in 2016, but played a full part this year, with 19 wickets at 13.42 in nine matches. Ifti Sabir's history was documented in the Division 16 review, but his first season with Balbriggan was a massive success, with 13 wickets at 15.62 for the 3rds. The final piece in the bowling jigsaw was 13 year old Eoin Birch, who had a dream season with 12 wickets at 12.83. In many ways he was the new face that made the most difference to Balbriggan 3!
Sandyford 2 - Runners up - (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 99 - Bowling Rating 138 - RpO for 4.84 - RpO against 3.73
After a disastrous 2016, Sandyford 2 stopped the rot, and finished in 89th place in the league, an improvement of five places since last year. They are still a long way behind the 69 - 74th place that they finished in between 2011 and 2015, but a step in the right direction. A strong finish to the year saw Sandyford storm up the table, with four wins from their last five - and they ended up with more wins than Balbriggan. In fact Division 12 gives a good example for those who may be promoting the removal of percentages in leagues for the 2018 season. If 8 points were given for a No Result, Sandyford would have won the league. If 10 points were given for a No result, Sandyford would still have won the league. But if 12 points had been given for a No Result, it would have been Balbriggan who won. Sandyford's bowling was much stronger than the batting, but there were some decent returns with the willow. Shyam Bharti led the way with 238 runs at 21.64 (and a place on the Team of the Year), although that was mainly die to his excellent 18 wickets at 12. Anand Joshi was the second Sandyford player to make Team of the Year with 222 runs at 22.2 and Gurninder Singh was the third "all star" with 196 at 21.78. Ajay Shastry completes the south Dublin club's Team of the Year representation with 162 runs at 27 and 16 wickets at 11.12. Two others passed the 100 run mark - Ihsan Ullah with 187 at 23.38 and Vaibhav Kotnala with 105 at 26.25. As mentioned, it was the bowling where the strength was. On top of Shastry and Bharti, Mhammad Abdullah took 12 wickets at 12.17 and Anurag Singh had 15 wickets at 17.00. North County 4 were the only team to score 200 runs against the Sandyford attack
Civil Service 3 - 3rd - (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 87 - Bowling Rating 124 - RpO for 4.44 - RpO against 3.95
Division 12 was very much a league dominated by bowling attacks and Civil Service 3 are the third team in a row to be characterised in this way. But whilst the results make it look as if Civil Service were made up of a fearsome array of bowlers (four times Service bowled out the opposition for less than 120), that doesn't quite translate into the individual figures. Tariq Quadri was the only player to get on our Team of the Year, and he was also the only Service bowler to get to 10 wickets. He took 13 wickets at 7.31, along with 134 runs at 22.33, and was crucial to the team despite him only playing six matches. The team won four of the six matches in which he played, as opposed to two of the four he didn't (which may not be quite a dramatic stat as I first imagined!). Six bowlers took between six and eight wickets though - and if a couple of those had doubled their tally, it could have propelled Civil Service to the title. The batting was a different story, despite us ranking as much weaker than their batting, with four players (plus Quadri) getting to the 100 run mark. Manish Mohan was the leading run scorer with 176 runs at 29.33, with Quadri next. Rana Hasan Ur Rahman scored 129 at 32.25, Anubhav Dutta 109 at 18.17 and Ajay Prabhakaran 102 at 34. Service were another team who reversed a slide experienced in 2016, rebounding three places to 90th.
Leinster 5 - 4th - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 110 - Bowling Rating 89 - RpO for 4.56 - RpO against 4.85
On the morning of June 24th, things were looking a bit bleak for Leinster 5, still winless after a poor start to the season. But a four wicket win over Swords ensued, the first of six straight league wins. That wasn't enough however to avert Leinster 5th's sixth straight fall in league position (although not even winning the league would have averted that). Amazing stat time. Since 2011, only three captains in Leinster cricket (outside of the lofty heights of "Senior" cricket) have captained more than 50 games with a win average of over 70%. Terry Bruton of Ashbourne leads the way (76.92% win rate), Sajesh Sudarsanan of Dundrum is next at 75% whilst third on the list is Leinster 5 captain Ciaran Casserly with 70.59%. Much of the success of a captain at these levels is abut getting the best possible eleven on the pitch, and Casserly's captaincy is unparalleled in this respect. 38 players were used, five passed 100 runs for the season, but none of those five played more than seven matches. Ashok Yadav led with 167 at 27.83, then Adarsh Kotwal with 165 at 27.5, Prabin KC with 143 at 47.67, Fahad Ansari with 140 at 20 and Shine Pushpangathan with 105 at 35. The bowling was a much simple affair with only Ibrahim Rafique having a season to savour with 10 wickets at 17.7
Merrion 7 - 5th - (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 107 - Bowling Rating 81 - RpO for 4.78 - RpO against 4.87
The fourth year in a row that Merrion 7 have come between 90th and 95th, and it goes without saying that Merrion 7 were the leading (and only) 7th team in the province. It was a bit of a nothing year to be honest - five matches won, five matches lost, never winning more than two in a row, but never losing two in a row either. For a mid table team, there was a bit of surprise with three players making the best eleven in Division 12. Both openers in the team hail from Anglesea Road, Mark Sandys (having his best season for Merrion since joining in 2015) with 367 runs at 52.43 being joined at the top of the order by Sanjay Pahuja with 252 runs at 36. Only two bowlers passed ten wickets, and Rishabh Sharma was named in the Division 12 Team of the Year for the second time after his 15 wickets at 11.13. Sudheer Kumar Bommala was the other one with 10 wickets at 19. The batting roll of honour is completed by Vishal Mendiratta who chalked up 160 runs at 26.67.
Swords 2 - 6th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 84 - Bowling Rating 95 - RpO for 4.54 - RpO against 4.65
A mixed review for Swords 2 this year. They were ranked as the worst team in the division (with their bowling being better than their batting). Their record backs this up to a certain extent - they were bowled out for under 140 four times and their highest score all season was 201. But that is being unduly harsh. The team recorded their highest ever league position, 93rd which beat their previous highest of 96 in 2013. Swords started well, winning their first two before a mid season stutter saw them lose the next four, before three from five at the end of the season led to a recovery. No players made it to our Team of the Year, with Roy Mathew being the only batsman to even pass 150 runs (162 at 27), and none of the bowlers getting more than ten wickets. The other 100+ batsmen were Jinu George (145 at 24.17), Muralidhar Ng (118 at 19.67), Shiju Nair (118 at 59) and Jimson Joseph (100 at 33.33). The two bowlers to get exactly 10 wickets were Roy Mathew with 10 at 13.70 and Ng with 10 at 12.90. 2018 will be about consolidation and moving up that table.
North County 4 - 7th (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 104 - Bowling Rating 89 - RpO for 4.68 - RpO against 5.22
The wheels fell of for North County 4, slumping from 58th in 2017 to 94th this year. It was a fall of over four divisions and led to another relegation. At the beginning of July, they were three from six, but the rest of the season only brought one more win from the last siz games. What were the reasons? There were a few departures higher up the club, but the players who made the 4ths so successful in 2016 were still there. The problem was that the 4th's starts had to move up to fill the gap. John Andrews and Safdar Ali moved up to the 2nds, Cole Gaddy went up to the 3rds, and Zia Mohyuddin was mainly on the 3rds. All teams struggle if they lose their four best players, and North County were no different. An incredible nine players chalked up 100 runs for the season, but in some respects that was part of the problem. Mohyuddin led the way with 248 runs (including 135* at home to Swords 2) at 82.67, but he only played four games. Ben McBride had 104 at 52, Yasir Mir 105 at 52.5 and Paddy Mann 155 at 25.83 but all the rest were below an average of 20 (Masroor Abbas and Jack Brady, both 124 at 17.71, Hussain Rafaqat 127 at 11.55, Ciaran Sheridan 170 at 18.89 (at the age of 14), and Lorcan Woodhouse 151 at 15.10). As one of the best batting grounds in the province, batsmen need to be scoring more heavily. With the ball, only Masroor Abbas excelled, with 16 wickets at 18.12.
Phoenix 5 - 8th (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 101 - Bowling Rating 79 - RpO for 4.58 - RpO against 5.34
A season that perhaps went as well (or badly) as could have been expected. With North County being dragged into the relegation fight, Division 12 became massively competitive. The batting held up (mainly down to one batsman, see below!) but the bowling struggled and was the worst in the division. Let us start with the batting, and the exploits of Muhammed Junaid Ashfaq. Until this season, Junaid had had an occasional career in Leinster cricket, scoring 235 runs at 16.79 at various levels since 2011. But this year he found a settled place with Phoenix 5, and capitalised on a grand scale. He took 16 wickets at 12.12 and scored 533 runs at 66.62. It was the highest number of runs scored in a Division 12 season (and the highest number of league runs scored for Phoenix 5 since 2011). Not surprisingly, he made our Team of the Year, although perhaps surprisingly, he was joined by Michael McDonough who was the wicketkeeper with most dismissals in Division 12. As for the others, Abdullah Tariq had a good all round season with 13 wickets at 33.85, and 117 runs at 14.62, and four other batsmen got to 100 runs. Marc Brazil scored 159 at 22.71, Alan Maginnis 132 at 26.4, Wamiq Siddiqui 100 at 11.11 and captain Emmet Staunton 100 at 12.5. Phoenix 5 are now the 4th best 5th team in the province, after being the 6th best in 2016
The full Division 12 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here.