Division 5 review - Part 2

Division 5 stats

Leading all time run scorer (2011-2015) - Brian Gilmore (Malahide) - 1253 runs @ 36.85
Most runs in a Division 5 season - Hamish Manks (Malahide) - 575 runs (2015)
Highest score - Nicky Kenny - 160* - Merrion 3 vs Railway Union 3 - Park Avenue - 14 May 2011
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2015) - Conor Gibbons (Malahide) - 69 wkts @ 18.97
Most wickets in a Division 5 season - Adam Craig (Clontarf) - 27 wkts (2012)
Best bowling - Michael Cotter - 7-30 - Terenure 2 vs Phoenix 3 - Terenure - 10 May 2015
Most matches - Conor Gibbons (Malahide) - 48 - (2012-2015)

Highest team score - 406-8 - Mullingar 1 vs Terenure 2 - Terenure - 14 June 2015
Lowest team score - 29 all out - North County 3 vs Clontarf 3 - Castle Avenue - 5 May 2012

Review

Phoenix 3 - Champions - (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 117 - Bowling Rating 148 - Overall Rating 265

A triumphant year for Phoenix 3, who won all twelve of their league games that were completed, winning Division 5 by nearly 25%. It was the team's 10th league title (following up on the Division 6 title last year), and the 6th time they have won the tier 5 league title (they also won the fourth tier Middle A in 2003). The team started the 2015 season as the 9th best third team in the province - they are now up to 3rd, behind only YMCA and Merrion. The glorious season was built upon the performances of six players. Sayed Medhi Shah had his best season in Phoenix colours, and totalled 460 runs at 51.11. He scored an excellent 127* as Phoenix beat Railway in August, top scored with 40 when they chased a tricky 171 against Pembroke and top scored again with 38 as Phoenix squeezed home by two wickets at home to Malahide. Naeem Shahzad wasn't too far behind, with 355 runs at 39.44, including five 50s. But it has to be said that it was the bowling that was the real strength. Not a single team managed to pass 200 against Phoenix (the highest was Merrion 4's 185-9). Graham Morris led the way with 24 wickets at 10.46, the third highest total in a Division 5 season. Aaron Joseph kept to his normal high standards with 18 at 16.44, and Sean Tomlinson took 17 at 15.00. An attack with those three bowlers on song took some stopping. It was a rampant season with bat and ball.

Merrion 4 - Runners up - (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 119 - Bowling Rating 105 - Overall Rating 224

If you were asked to name a selection of teams who had improved their league position year on year since 2011, many would name teams such as Adamstown 1, YMCA 3 or perhaps Dundrum 2. But few would mention Merrion 4, who have risen from 47th in 2011 to this year's 34th spot. The one consistent player in that rise has been Vikas Dhiman, who has played a full season for Merrion 4ths in each season since 2012, scoring 1796 runs at 39.91. No other batsman comes close (Andrew Kay is next with 917 runs at 24.13). As with any big club, player turn over on a team can be large, but Dhiman's presence has solidified the Merrion 4 batting. This season, he scored 375 runs at 53.57, and although he top scored three times, more often than not, he was the supporting actor, stealing the performance after the lead had done the hard work. Others who had impressive seasons with the bat were Chandra Aramalla, James Outram, Beant Singh Bhatal and Prashanth Siddireddy. The bowling was less impressive - as has historically been the case with Merrion 4 (only Mohsin Tarar has 50 wickets - at 18). The attack this season was led by Ajay Varma (19 wickets at 16.16) and Sreedhar Pandyala (17 at 19.76). The Division 5 title was a possibility until they lost to Phoenix in late July - but a runners up spot is not to be sniffed at.

Malahide 3 - 3rd - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 132 - Bowling Rating 106 - Overall Rating 248

Another impressive performance from Malahide 3, who maintained their approximate league position over recent years, and came third this season - as we predicted. In a division that was dominated by batsmen, Malahide were no different. Several performances stand out - Mick O'Brien's 112* as Malahide beat Merrion by 137 runs being up there. But it was Hamish Manks who stole the show, breaking Malahide team mate, Brian Gilmore's 2013 record of 558 runs in a Division 5 season. Manks was exceptional, scoring 575 runs at 57.5, with six 50s - only Clontarf's Brian McDerrmott has scored over 500 Division 5 runs in a season at a higher average (519 at 57.67 in 2011). Manks had a good bit of support - Gary Stewart hit 443 at 55.38, Richard Wing 270 at 54 and Mick O'Brien 222 runs at 111.00. Th bowling was going to struggle to reach that level, although Malahide tried. Five bowlers took at least ten wickets (Manks having most with 14 at 18.93) but of those five, only Richard Brown averaged under 16 (10 wickets at 15.20). Conor Gibbons extended his lead as leading all time Division 5 wicket taker - he now has 69 at 18.97.

Pembroke 3 - 4th - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 110 - Bowling Rating 128 - Overall Rating 238

On the surface, 2015 was a decent year for Pembroke 3. They finished in the top half of the table, and only lost to the sides above them (Phoenix (twice), Malahide (twice) and Merrion (who they only played once). Or ranking has them as the third best team in the division - above Merrion 4. But that masks a few worrying signs for Pembroke. They have now slipped to their lowest league position since 2011 (36th from a 2012 peak of 29th). More worrying though is that the province's leading 3rd team in 2012 and 2013, has now slipped to only the 5th best third team. Other clubs (namely YMCA, Merrion, Phoenix and Malahide) have passed them by. As our introduction said, it was not the worst season in the world on an individual level, but was missing star performances. David O'Riordan snr rolled back the years, becoming the leading scorer on the team with 249 runs at 49.8. Achmat Carr was the only other player with over 200 runs (217 at 43.4), but he played only five games, spending most of the season on Pembroke 2. The bowling was stronger, but not good enough to limit the damage against the stronger teams. Richard Hastie returned to Pembroke this year, and quickly made himself at home with 18 wickets at 12.33. Aaron O'Neill had an impressive 11 wickets at 10.64, and Jeremy Dunleavy 11 at 16.09.

Leinster 3 - 5th - (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 113 - Bowling Rating 66 - Overall Rating 179

Two late season wins lifted Leinster away from the bottom of the league, and left them in the same position (37th) as they finished 2014. The batting unit was handy enough (4th in the league), but the bowling was awful, with only Terenure being worse. In their 12 matches, Leinster's opponents ran up a score of over 200 eight times. The other four matches saw Railway chase 95 for the loss of one wicket, Pembroke chase 151 for the loss of two wickets and Phoenix chase 149 without losing a wicket. The only "success" from the Leinster bowling was in restricting Terenure to 169-7 in the last game of the season. Not too surprisingly, that bowling was translated to the individual stats, where Shariq Khan was the only player to take more than ten wickets, with 12 at 11.83. The batting was a good bit better - Chris Oosthuizen was the leading run scorer with 305 at 27.72, Eamonn Byrne hit a brilliant 220 at 73.33, and Will Rolfe scored 219 at 27.38. Leinster players scored three hundreds (behind only Merrion's four). The other six teams only managed four between them.

Railway Union 3 - 6th (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 78 - Bowling Rating 113 - Overall Rating 191

After a strong start to the season (winning three of their first four matches), Railway fell away badly, winning only one of the last eight. Those first four games were characterised by a strong bowling performance, as Leinster were bowled out for 95, Mullingar for 65 and Terenure for 115. Eoghan Connolly, Susheel Kumar and Nagesh Yadav were to the fore, all taking lots of wickets for very few runs. From this point onwards, it was a different story - Connolly only took 8 more wickets at 28.25, Kumar 3 more at 49, and Yadav 13 at 18.31 (the one success). Over the season as whole, Yadav was the star with 18 wickets at 15.67. Connolly was also distinctly useful with 17 wickets at 17.82, and Mohammed Farooq and Kumar chipped in. Whilst it may have been the bowling attack that won those early matches for Railway, the batting line up failed to really contribute much all year! Ger O'Brien stood head and shoulders over the rest, with 355 runs at 39.44. Farooq added 216 runs to his wickets, making him only one of four Division 5 players to achieve the 200 run/10 wicket double this year - Manks and Stewart (Malahide) and Michael Cotter (Terenure) were the others.

Mullingar 1 - 7th (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 86 - Bowling Rating 104 - Overall Rating 190

A massive disappointment for Mullingar, who were tipped to do well (and possibly to return to Division 4 at the first attempt), but who instead may now be in Division 6. Pure and simply, player availability made a massive difference to the side. Mullingar have relied on the batting talents of Ali Yasir, Rashad Ejaz and Woody O'Neill over the last few seasons - the first two only played five and four league games respectively over the season, and although O'Neill played more often, he had a poor season with the bat by his lofty standards. Ejaz amassed 236 runs (at 78.67) in the four matches he played, but he was the only one to pass 200 runs. The bowling was better, with O'Neill taking 16 at 12.12, and Patrick Mount having his best ever season with 15 wickets at 21. The one high point was when Mullingar became the 7th team to clock up 400 runs in an innings, when they scored 406-8 in Terenure in June. The previous club record (post 2010) was only 290ao against Merrion 2 in 2011.

Terenure 2 - 8th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 66 - Bowling Rating 59 - Overall Rating 125

2015 always looked if it was going to be a tough year for Terenure 2. An excellent 2014 meant that they were playing at their highest recent level in 2015, and it was as difficult as expected. All 12 completed matched were lost, but it was a credit to the side that they kept turning up - and there were some decent performances amongst the carnage. Diarmuid Lynch was the top wicket taker with 11 wickets at 39.09 but it was Michael Cotter who grabbed the headlines. At 193-2, the champions elect, Phoenix 3 were cruising during their early season clash with Terenure. Cotter then entered the attack, and ripped up the Division 5 record books. Eight wickets fell for 60 runs, as Cotter took 7-30. It was the best bowling recorded in Divison 5 (and the first instance of a Division 5 bowler taking seven wickets in an innings), the best bowling for Terenure in our 2011-2015 records, the third best bowling against Phoenix, and the best bowling on the Terenure ground. Cotter was also the team's top run scorer, with 241 runs at 20.08.

Division 5 batting averages 2015 (Qualification 100 runs)

Division 5 Bowling averages 2015 (Qualification 6 wickets)