Division 15 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2016) - Abdul Khan (Clontarf) - 363 runs @ 40.33
Most runs in a Division 15 season - Shahid Khan (North Kildare) - 353 runs (2016)
Highest score - Michael Hughes - 121 - Dundalk 1 vs Balbriggan 3 - Jack Harper Memorial Ground - 1 Aug 2015
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2016) - Aidan McDermott (Clontarf) - 24 wkts @ 14.42
Most wickets in a Division 15 season - Munir Khan (Civil Service) - 20 wkts (2015)
Best bowling - Munir Khan - 8-5 - Civil Service 4 vs Rush 4 - Civil Service - 28 June 2015
Most matches - Aidan McDermott (Clontarf)- 17 (2015-2016)
Highest team score - 282-9 - North Kildare 4 vs Phoenix 6 - Castleknock College - 17 July 2016
Lowest team score - 28 all out - Dundalk 2 vs Clontarf 6 - Dromiskin - 31 May 2015
Dundalk 2 withdrew from Division 15 during the season.
Team of the Year (in batting order) - Jaleel Husnain Shah (Carlow), Abdul Khan (Clontarf), Ian Smale (Greystones), Raj Yadav (North Kildare), Shahid Khan (North Kildare), Sahil Peshawar (Clontarf), Daniel O'Sullivan (Clontarf, wicketkeeper), Faysal Bashar (North Kildare) Ian Oliver (Greystones), Farhan Khan (North Kildare), Rory Keenan (North Kildare)
Review
Runs per wicket for all teams - 18.69 Runs per over for all teams - 4.56
Clontarf 6 - Champions - (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 112 - Bowling Rating 156 - RpO for 4.63 - RpO against 3.61
The long twenty six year wait is finally over for Clontarf 6, after they lifted their first piece of silverware since a Junior C league title in 1997. In the end, Tarf had a healthy ten percent leaad over second place Carlow, but the season wasn't a cakewalk, with nervous calculations still being made into September. There were only two losses, to Carlow 2 at the begining of the season, and to Greystones 3 at the end. The season's work saw Clontarf move above Phoenix 6 in the ranking of sixth teams, meaning they are now third, behind Merrion and Leinster. The success was built very much on the back of two allrounders, who dominated the Clontarf stats. Abdul Khan was the undoubted star, scoring 222 runs at 37, and 15 wickets at 7.93 but Sahil Peshawar was distinctly useful as well, with 103 runs at 25.75 and 15 wickets at 8.33. The two ensured that sides found it very hard to score against Clontarf - six sides were bundled out for less than 150, and only Greystones 3 passed 150, scoring 189-4 in a match that neither Khan or Peshawar played.
NB: The original article stated that Clontarf 6 won Junior B in 1997. In fact Clontarf 5 won Junior C in 1997. It seems that Clontarf 6's only previous win was around the Junior B level in 1990. However, if anyone knows any different, please get in touch!
Carlow 2 - Runners up - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 93 - Bowling Rating 114 - RpO for 5.67 - RpO against 4.67
A fantastic achievement in their first season, Carlow 2 grabbed runners up spot, albeit one based on a record on the field of 5-3. This is emphasised by our rankings listing Carlow as having only the 6th best batting line up in the league, but the 3rd best bowling. None the less, some teams go years without a promotion, and Carlow grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The highlight of the season was undoubtedly the three wicket win over champions Clontarf in May, a win based on a fine all round team performance. Carlow scored at a fierce lick all season, second only to North Kildare, but only Jaleel Husnain Shah hung around enough to top 100 runs for the season - 156 at 31.20. The bowling was very much a team affair. No one took more than Azmat Sufian's 9 at 15.89, but yet seven took four or more.
North Kildare 4 - 3rd - (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 105 - Bowling Rating 115 - RpO for 5.68 - RpO against 4.46
A horrendous start to the season saw North Kildare 4 lose the first three matches, before a dramatic turn around saw then win six of their last seven matches to take third place. It was a creditable achievement - North Kildare were promoted as runners up from Division 16 last year, and ended up eight places higher in the league ladder. In the process, they overtook Rush 4 to be the 13th highest 4th team in the province. Shahid Khan dominated the batting, playing in eight of the nine games and scoring 353 at 88.25. His bowling was none too shabby either, with 12 wickets at 12.75. North Kildare's strong bowling attack was also had Raj Yadav (19 at 8.21) and sixteen year old Rory Keenan who took 11 wickets at 11.82.
Greystones 3 - 4th - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 94 - Bowling Rating 84 - RpO for 4.12 - RpO against 4.65
Not the best tip that has ever been given. For the second season in a row, this column tipped Greystones 3 to win the league, and for the second season in a row, the reality was not quite as rosy. It wasn't too bad though, with Greystones playing more matches than anyone else in the league - ten, and a 5-5 record. That led to a three place improvement in league position over 2015, although still someway behind the high of 113th in 2013. As would be expected, the batting struggled a bit - only the Ians, Smale (199 at 73) and Oliver (161 at 23) passed 150 runs for the ten game season. According to our ratings, the bowling struggled to an even greater extent, and that is reflected in the stats - no one bettered fifteen year old Thorfinn Newton who took 7 wickets at 18.43.
Mullingar 3 - 5th - (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 115 - Bowling Rating 79 - RpO for 4.23 - RpO against 5.42
Unfortunately another season to write off for Mullingar 3 - and not all of their own making. Incredibly only five matches were completed on the pitch, and it is worth noting the fate of the other seven. Of their six home games, one was lost and the other five were rained off. Mullingar gets 62 days every cricket season (out of approximately 150 days) when there is at least 1mm of rain, which compares to 51 days for Dublin Airport. So there is a good chance that there will always be two more matches a year rained off in Mullingar than in Swords. Add to that the drainage problems on the outfield in St Finian's College, and it all adds up to very short cricket seasons. The other two non played matches were the game in Carlow (originally rained off and then not reorganised) and a walkover given to Mullingar when Phoenix were hosting. As you may guess, the five games didn't give up much in the way of stats - Declan Ashley amassed 173 runs in only two games, and Conor Kelly took 7 wickets, including 6-32. 117th was Mullingar 3rd's lowest ever league position.
Rush 4 - 6th (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 92 - Bowling Rating 108 - RpO for 4.12 - RpO against 3.68
To say Rush 4 had an odd season is something of an understatement. After an early season hiccup to get a team to play Carlow, a loss at home to Mullingar was followed by three wins on the bounce. A pair of losses against champions elect Clontarf, left Rush at 3-4 on June 12th, which was not too bad a situation with five league games and most of the summer still to come. Remarkably, Rush didn't play another match in the 2016 season. The match in Mullingar was rained off, and Rush failed to gather enough players to take on Greystones, Carlow or North Kildare. So another team with little cricket behind them. Six matches is not much to build a substantial haul with - Jack McGee and Alex Neary edged over 100 runs, and Adam Ellison and Daniel Thorne snared 7 wickets a piece.
Phoenix 6 7th (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 95 - Bowling Rating 65 - RpO for 3.93 - RpO against 5.62
On the surface, Phoenix 6's batting was that of a team who should be at least mid table - only twice did they not reach 140, which is not too bad a score in Division 15 (there were only eight totals of over 200 all season). However, there was a lack of individual brilliance - the only 50 all season was by Sankeerth Karpe, who scored 94 on his way to 182 runs at 45.50. However he played only four games. But it was the bowling that was the real problem, and the main reason why they had an on the pitch record of 2-7. Four teams passed 200 runs (out of those eight instances in the entire division) and of the other four matches, three were only low because they were successful chases by the opposition. That is of course reflected in the stats, the best return from those nine matches is Abdullah Tariq's 6 wickets at 24.83. And the runs per over against is a bit scary, the opposition romping along at 5.62 an over.
The full Division 15 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here