Division 4 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2017) - Furqan ul Haq (Railway Union) - 1861 runs @ 29.54
Most runs in a Division 4 season - Mubasher Siddique (Civil Service) - 737 runs (2013)
Highest score - Rashid Mehraj - 199 - Laois 1 vs North Kildare 1 - Togher - 29 July 2012
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2017) - Mubasher Siddique (Civil Service) - 76 wkts @ 17.46
Most wickets in a Division 4 season - Yaqoob Ali (YMCA) - 36 wkts (2011)
Best bowling - Yaqoob Ali - 8-16 - YMCA 2 vs Malahide 3 - Malahide - 10 July 2011
Most matches - Furqan ul Haq (Railway Union) - 67 - (2011-2017)
Highest team score - 396-5 - Railway Union 2 vs North Kildare 1 - The Maws - 4 Aug 2012
Lowest team score - 53 all out - Civil Service 1 vs North Kildare 1 - The Maws - 15 June 2013
Team of the Year (in batting order) - Emmett Craik (Knockharley) (Division 6, 2015), Ross Shivmangal (Merrion), Beant Bhatal (Merrion) (Division 3, 2016; Division 4, 2014; Division 5, 2015), Furqan ul Haq (Railway Union, wicketkeeper) (Division 4, 2013, 2016), Mubasher Siddique (Civil Service) (Division 4, 2013, 2015), Sainath Reddy (Merrion), Safdar Ali (North County) (Division 8, 2016; Division 9, 2014), Jack Condie (Knockharley), Ankit Gugale (North County), John Andrews (North County) (Division 9, 2014), Vidit Sukhramani (Merrion)
Review
Runs per wicket for all teams - 20.42 Runs per over for all teams - 4.65
Merrion 3 - Champions - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 130 - Bowling Rating 128 - RpO for 4.97 - RpO against 4.19
A brilliant achievement by Merrion 3, who became the first third team to win the fourth tier of Leinster cricket since they did it themselves in 2006. No other club has managed the feat since 1980 when Leinster 3 were the winners. The first nine matches of the season were won, and despite on end of season blip, they won by nearly 10%. There is an argument for saying that some of the stars on this 3rd team could have been good enough for playing in Division 2. However of those who took 10 wickets or more, or scored more than 100 runs, only JJ Walsh went on to play for the top team - another example of how strong Merrion are at the top of the tree. The talisman was undoubtedly Beant Bhatal who took 12 wickets at 11.33 and 447 runs at 63.86. He was top of our batting and bowling averages, and was the leading run scorer in the division. He averages 49 in Division 4, 39 in Division 3 and over 30 in Division 2 - a colossus at this level. Plenty of other Merrion veterans performed - Sainath Reddy (who started the 2016 season on Merrion 5) scored 310 at 44.29, Alan Parkinson proved he could still do it with 217 at 31, Ross Shivmangal was solid with 214 at 53.50. Two others passed 100 runs - Harry Shivmangal scored 137 at 19.51 and Hari Ramasetty hit 140 at 15.56. The bowling was ranked slightly behind that of North County's, and a slight criticism would be that it lacked a bowler taking 20+ wickets. But that is a harsh criticism when a team wins the league, and there five who got to 10 wickets - Vidit Sukhramani (16 at 13.31), Bhatal as previously mentioned, JJ Walsh (11 at 11), Shreyansh Khanna (11 at 15.09) and Tariq Iqbal (10 at 17.3). Four players made our Division 4 Team of the Year - Bhatal (his 4th) and Ross Shivmangal, Reddy and Sukhramani who all were named for the first time. Merrion's only problem may be keeping so many decent cricketers happy.
North County 2 - Runners up - (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 122 - Bowling Rating 138 - RpO for 5.39 - RpO against 4.20
North County 2 bounced straight back up to Division 3, with a good all round performance. The batting was impressive, but the bowling quite frankly astounding, the team able to call on an almost unlimited supply of bowlers who could come into the team and take wickets. They used 10 bowlers (as a comparison, Merrion used 17); two of them (Ross Staunton and Owen Graham only bowled a handful of overs) and the rest all took ten wickets or more. Of the four matches that were lost, it is arguable that each of the losses was down to a lack of runs, rather than a lack of penetration by the bowlers. Ankit Gugale was named in his first Team of the Year, and led the wicket taking with 19 wickets at 12.63 (as well as 164 runs at 20.50). Mikey Sludds took 17 at 15.24, before the incredible John Andrews, who took 15 wickets at 13.40 and was named in his first Team of the Year since 2014, when he was one of the best in Division 9 (on top of 141 runs at 12.82). Sean Sludds is next in the bowling stakes with 14 wickets at 15.29, followed by Cian Mulvaney who took 13 wickets at 7.46. Unfortunately we limit our division wide selection to those who have played five games or more, and Mulvaney only played four. Anthony Mooney is next on the list with 13 at 16.46, followed by Craig May (11 at 21.73), and Manmeet Singh (10 at 22.6). North County 2 are very much like their 1st team. Stacked full of talent that has come up through the club, they can compete at the highest level - as long as everyone is performing to their ability. And so there is nothing to stop them doing well in Division 3 next year, as long as all those mentioned turn up. Four batsmen passed 200 runs, with a further three getting passed 100. Best was Safdar Ali, whose 412 runs at 37.45 earned him his 1st team debut. Craig May added to his wickets with 309 runs at 28.09, Sean Rooney hit 273 runs at 30.33 and Sean Sludds scored 212 at 26.50. The other three batsmen of note were Gugale, Manmeet Singh (153 at 17) and Andrews. The aim was to get back to Division 3, and the aim was achieved.
Dundrum 1 - 3rd - (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 98 - Bowling Rating 90 - RpO for 4.65 - RpO against 4.42
Whilst the top two waltzed their way through Division 4, there was nothing between those placed 3rds to 7th. Dundrum came out on top of that particular pile, but it wasn't exactly a triumphant season. At home (which was St Columba's College this year). they were unbeaten in four matches, but away from home they were 2-5. It combined to quite remarkably give the club its highest ever league position - 27th. That is perhaps a reflection of how far Dundrum have come. For years they were the golden child of Leinster cricket, with successive promotions. And when other new clubs have come along, it was easy to start dismissing Dundrum, who remarkably are now the 17th best 1st team in the province, with North Kildare the team above them. Since 2011, they have overtaken Laois, Mullingar, Wicklow County and Civil Service (with Old Belvedere no longer in existence). The individual stats don't quite support it being Dundrum's best ever season. There are no Dundrum players on the Team of the Year, only two batsmen passed 200 runs and no bowler took more than 14 wickets. Muhammad J Javed was the leading bowler with 14 at 16.86, with the other three who took ten wickets being Salman Ali (12 at 20.83), Abilash Sukumaran (10 at 21.20) and Mitul Galav took 10 at 25.40. We rated Dundrum's batting a bit better - 98 (ie a bit below the 100 average for the division) as opposed to the bowling's 90. It was led by Srikanth Boddu who scored 344 at 31.27, followed by Dundrum stalwart Jinto Mathew with 206 at 25.75. The players who didn't quite make it to 200 runs were Galav (180 at 25.71 and the only player with the 100 run/10 wicket double), Vinu Varghese Jacob (169 at 16.9), Renjith Nair (152 at 19), and Kumail Jaffry (120 at 24). So not the best season, but if you can have your best ever finish with that kind of season, whats not to like!?
Railway Union 2 - 4th - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 102 - Bowling Rating 98 - RpO for 4.89 - RpO against 4.87
Another season for Railway Union 2 that was pretty much like the preceding six. Their 28th was one below 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016, but a bit better than 2014 and 2015. Another failure to gain promotion must be massively frustrating for the club, but against that is the realisation that the team came out well from what was a tough year for the club, and should now be much stronger. Ongoing work on their home ground of Park Avenue meant that three of the team's four games were played in Wesley College (winning one and losing two). Furqan ul Haq was the team's one member of the Team of the Year, with an all round season of the ages. With the bat he scored 271 at 24.64 (extending his lead as the leading run scorer in Division 4 history) and with the ball he took 9 wickets at 9.78. But he actually qualified for the team as the leading wicket keeper in the division with 18 dismissals. Fakhar Zaman was unlucky not to make his Division 2 debut with 23 wickets at 14.26 and 316 runs at 28.73, being the leading run scorer and wicket taker. It was the first time that a Railway Union bowler had taken 20 wickets in a Division 4 league season. Only one other bowler made a contribution of note, as Eoghan Grehan took 16 wickets at 15.69. Not only did Railway miss a few other bowlers having better than average seasons the batting also lacked those who will look back on their summer with a glow. After Zaman and ul Haq, no one scored more than Umar Siraj's 172 at 24.57. Abdullah Hafiz scored 150 at 18.75, Muhammad Farooq 142 at 17.75, Kashif Shah 108 at 13.5, Imtiaz Nazir 103 at 34.33, Saad Ullah 103 at 103 and Hashir Sultan 101 at 25.25. There is always next year.
Laois 1 - 5th - (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 93 - Bowling Rating 92 - RpO for 4.24 - RpO against 4.79
Another team that will just about be happy with their lot. Laois 1 were apprehensive going into the season as a few high profile departures left their mark, but although it was their lowest league position in recent years, it could have been worse, and was better than the 31st place in 2011. Home form suffered a bit (perhaps not surprisingly). Between 2012 and 2016 they won 22 and lost 10 at home, but only won three from seven this year - not a disaster, but Laois is now an easier place to win for visiting teams than it used to be. As would be expected with a mid-table team, the individual stats were not spectacular, but not too bad either. Two bowlers dominated the wicket taking - Usama Raees taking 22 with 15.77 and Kamran Sabrie taking his at 19.18. The only other bowler of note was stalwart Armand Smit who took 13 wickets at 25.38 but probably had more of an impact with the bat, scoring 277 runs at 25.18 - the first time he has scored over 200 league runs for Laois 1 since our records began in 2011. Fintan Moore was leading run scorer with 299 runs at 27.18, followed by Smit, Usama Raees (220 at 24.44), Jonny Yasin (205 at 22.78). Paul Croke scored 161 at 17.86, Daniel Monk 125 at 17.86 and Ahsan Pervaiz 112 at 22.4. Like many other teams in Division 4, it could have been much worse, and 2018 looks promising.
Knockharley 1 - 6th (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 91 - Bowling Rating 106 - RpO for 4.00 - RpO against 4.42
An up and down season for Knockharley - but mainly up. We expected them to struggle, but on the pitch they were much better than many would have dreamed, and we have them ranked as fourth best in the league, with the bowling only being behind Merrion and North County. It is not that hard to see where improvements could be made though - they were unbeaten in six matches at home, but lost all six of their away matches! It is easy to over analyse those away results. Run totals were obviously too low (they wouldn't have lost otherwise!), but it wasn't as if the team collapsed every match - the scores were 134ao, 81ao, 181ao, 220ao, 179ao and 132 ao. Knockharley get two players on our Team of the Year. Emmett Craik played less of a part in Knockharley's season than in previous years, only playing in seven games. But that was still enough games to take 13 wickets at 13 as well as score 176 runs at 29.33. Jack Condie was named in his first ever Team of the Year, and perhaps surprisingly it was as a batsmen rather than a bowler. His bowling was handy enough with 15 wickets at 22.47 but his batting was a revelation, scoring 239 runs at 34.14 beating his previous best of 98 runs scored in a Knockharley 1 league season (in 2014). The batting was weaker than the bowling, and this is reflected in the individual returns. Only Condie scored over 200 runs. Tahir Rasheed was next with 195 at 17.73, followed by Anthony Bellew (189 at 23.62), Craik, Sohail Waisar (170 at 28.33), Tayyab Rashid (136 at 12.36), Mark Ingamell (133 at 12.09) and Ovais Ali *117 at 16.71). That third best bowling attack was made up of a quintet of bowlers - Craik, Condie, Anup Dambal (19 at 20.05), Tayyab Rashid (16 at 18.94) and Shoaib Khan (11 at 19.91). An excellent introduction to Division 4 cricket - can they now push on?
Civil Service 1 - 7th (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 99 - Bowling Rating 95 - RpO for 4.70 - RpO against 4.65
Five league wins is normally just about good enough to stave off relegation, but for Civil Service 1 it was not quite good enough. The 2018 league structure isn't yet confirmed, but Civil Service finished in the second relegation spot and 31st was comfortably their worst league position for many years and we haven't been able to find the last time Civil Service 1 were outside of the top four divisions in Leinster cricket. A late season surge of three wins in the last four matches (including a 32 run win over North County) nearly saved them, but their early and mid season form (two from the first nine) meant they were always up against it. In those nine matches, ten players played more than five games, but none of them averaged over 25 with the bat. There were plenty of other highlights though - Urvin Desai took most wickets in a league season for Civil Service 1 since Naveed Khan took 29 in 2013 (taking 26 at 13.85), and Mubasher Siddique made his third Division 4 Team of the Year scoring 400 runs at 33.33 (the third time he has passed 400 league runs in a season for Service). To top it all, he also took 18 wickets at 18.33, the fourth time he has done the 300 run/15 wicket double in a league season. Syed Akbar took 15 wickets at 21.4, Sachin Mistry 11 at 18.91 and Ronak Modi 10 wickets at 29.7 in his debut season. Many of those same players figured amongst the top run scorers - Nilesh Joshi scored 257 at 19.77, Mistry 241 at 24.1, Prashant Tiwari 145 at 29, Muhammad Safeen 139 at 27.8, Keith Webster 121 at 11, and Desai with 119 at 17.
Phoenix 3 - 8th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 76 - Bowling Rating 72 - RpO for 4.36 - RpO against 5.47
There's no getting away from the fact that it wasn't the easiest year for Phoenix 3. We predicted it would be tough, and it was. Bowling struggled, batting struggled, the team struggled. The one win was a two wicket team effort to beat Civil Service. But that was in May, and the next four months were tough. But let's not ignore the headline - Phoenix are the 2nd best third team in the province, after being 9th best as recently as 2014. The stats make for grim reading - no one passed 200 runs, only two bowlers got into double figures in the wickets column. Those two were Shazaib Ahmad (13 wickets at 20.15) and Chris Kavanagh (10 at 36.1). The batting wasn't really much better - fourteen year old Sankeerth Karpe was best with 165 at 18.33, then South African exchange student Keegan Cox (151 at 50.33), Matthew Gregg (140 at 28), 13 year old Louis McDonough (130 at 16.25), Michael Godwin (111 at 9.25), Nitin Naik (110 at 22) and Shazaib Ahmad (100 at 12.5). If it wasn't for the youth players, the team would have really struggled! In 2018 Phoenix should again be the best 3rd team in Division 5, and may well bounce straight back up.
The full Division 4 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here.