Division 13 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2015) - Adam Ellison (Rush) - 827 runs @ 25.06
Most runs in a Division 13 season - Muhammad Navid (Merrion) - 588 runs (2013)
Highest score - Anto Coates - 203 - Ringcommons 1 vs Rush 4 - Kenure - 8 Sept 2012
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2015) - Sajesh Sudarsanan (Dundrum) - 53 wkts @ 15.02 and Adam Ellison (Rush) - 53 wkts @ 22.66
Most wickets in a Division 13 season - Stuart Gallagher (Halverstown) - 36 wkts (2012)
Best bowling - Robin Chalissery - 7-6 - Ringcommons 1 vs Sandyford 3 - Marlay Park - 13 May 2012
Most matches - Adam Ellison (Rush) - 48 - (2011-2014)
Highest team score - 380-6 - Ringcommons 1 vs Rush 4 - Kenure - 8 Sept 2012
Lowest team score - 14 all out - Sandyford 3 vs Ringcommons 1 - Marlay Park - 13 May 2012
There is no common thread to be expounded upon in this year's Division 13. Eight teams who all have very different roles within their respective clubs - although presumably all have the same aim of winning Division 13.
A couple of first teams will represent the pinnacle of the talents in those respective clubs, with two second teams, three third teams and a seventh team completing the octet. As always there is the added competition within those subsets. Ashbourne and Halverstown will be tussling to become the 38th best 1st team in the province; Swords and Bagenalstown will be fighting to become the 26th best 2nd team; Dublin University, Laois and North Kildare will aim to be the 16th best 3rd team and Leinster 7 already know that they will finish as the second best 7th team!
Bagenalstown 2 turned a corner in 2015, gaining promotion to Division 13 after a string of impressive performances. But there is no getting around the fact that their league position has been slipping year on year. A similar performance to last year won't be enough - they are going to have to raise their game further just to avoid relegation. That could be too big an ask, and it could be another relegation dogfight the team could do without.
Leinster 7 have a fairly topsy turvy existence, either carrying off silverware, or slumping to defeat after defeat, depending pretty much on who wonders up Observatory Lane. Last year was the former, with the team lifting the Division 14 title, but the feeling is that this year could see a bit of a slump for the 7ths. THey will need to return their best league finish since 2012 just to avoid relegation - and we're predicting that they won't manage it. 7th place it is.
Dublin University 3 won this division in 2013, and obviously cannot be written off. In fact they have become stalwarts at this level, finishing somewhere between the equivalent of top and 6th every year since 2011. Their problem lies in their relationship with some of their opponents - that relationship being of the losing variety. They have lost more games than they have won against Laois, Swords, North Kildare and Leinster, and so it is difficult to see them as top half material. We'll go for 6th.
2015 was North Kildare 3's best finish in the league since 2012, with them coming 5th in this league. Last year's performance was very much built around a few players (as is many team's efforts at this level) and their input will be crucial. There are unlikely to be fireworks, but a similar year to 2015 is quite possible - so 5th again is our prediction.
The big unknown in Division 13 this year is Ashbourne 1. At the first time of asking they gained promotion from Division 16, and would have got the title were it not for an exceptional Carlow team. But a three division jump over the league ladder is a fairly large leap, and it would be a foolish person who would predict another promotion. And whilst this column's predictions are often foolish, that would be a jump too far. Top half should be possible.
It is difficult to get away from the feeling that the top three in the league will be the three teams that finished in the highest places in 2015. Swords 2 are something of a curate's egg. They have a good 3-1 record against Halverstown 1 as well as 3-1 against Trinity. The impression would be that they are a strong team who are there and there abouts every year. But in reality, their league position has slowly slipped from their debut in 2013. They finished 96th in that first year, and were down to 101st last year. Not a big slide, but one which suggests they will not be mounting a massive challenge for the title. A bronze medal will be all they pick up.
It is something of a cliché, and I apologise to those in Laois for repeating it, but the club is always proactive in reducing teams if the management feel that numbers could be tight in a particular year, before expanded when membership is higher. So Laois 3's league position has been all over the place as the club contracts and expands. 77th in the league in 2013, down to 104th in 2014 and back to 98th last year. That makes any real prediction even harder to sort out than normal. The same finish as last year will see them as champions, and if there was any other team apart from Halverstown in the league, the championship pennant would already be at the embroiderers. But Laois may have to settle for a runners up place.
That just leaves Halverstown 1, a team with a rich history that may just be emerging from a little chicane. The last league title was the equivalent of Division 7 back in 2006, and what better way of celebrating the ten year anniversary than with another league title. Their lowest league position has been 96th in 2014; top spot would see them as 99th. The only worrisome stat is their recent matches against Swords. The teams clashed twice in both 2012 and 2013 in Division 12, and Swords won three of the four matches. Their meeting will be crucial , and if either of them can sneak an away win, it may well tip the balance. Halverstown have never won in Newbridge Demesne, but there's no time like the present. Halverstown to lift the title.
The first game is when Laois 3 travel across the Laois/Carlow border to take on Bagenalstown 2 in McGrath Park on April 24