Division 5 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2016) - Brian Gilmore (Malahide) - 1316 runs @ 37.60
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 (2011-2016) - Conor Gibbons (Malahide) - 79 wkts @ 20.33
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) - 57 - (2012-2016)
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
Team of the Year (in batting order) - James Govan (Malahide), Naeem Shahzad (Phoenix), Mark Ingamell (Knocharley), Chirag Dolia (Leinster), Tayyab Rashid (Knockharley), Anmol Singh Diddan (Merrion), Damian Gargan (Clontarf), Chris Cavanagh (Phoenix), Chris Oosthuizen (Leinster, wicketkeeper), Gordan Millar (Phoenix), Ralph Condie (Knockharley)
Review
Runs per wicket for all teams - 20.96 Runs per over for all teams - 4.66
Knockharley 1 - Champions - (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 123 - Bowling Rating 139 - RpO for 5.15 - RpO against 3.89
It's difficult to find a bad word to say about Knockharley at the moment. The ground has come on enormously under the control of Ralph Condie (picking up the awards for best ground in Division 5-16 category at the recent Cricket Leinster dinner), the club's youth set up continues to develop, and most of all the 1st team is climbing the league ladder at an alarming rate. Knockharley 1 won a league for the third year on the trot, and have now moved up an incredible 21 places in the last five seasons. So that is the hyperbole, but how was it achieved? Knockharley finished the league season unbeaten, winning all ten of their matches. The first seven were won batting first - with victories ranging from 144 runs against Malahide 3, to 6 runs against Merrion 4. The last three games of the season were won batting second, by margins of four, five and one wicket(s). That last match against Leinster, probably sums up the tenacity of Knockharleys season. Chasing only 113, they were 54-2 before collapsing to 56-6. Another recovery to 95-5 saw another collapse, as Leinster's Daragh Nulty took a hat trick to leave Knockharley's unbeaten record at risk at 103-9. But Tahir Rasheed played a brilliantly composed innings, hitting a six to get the scores level, before Knockharley squeezed home. Three batsmen passed 200 runs for the season. Emmett Craik just about got there with 203 runs at 22.56, Mark Ingamell scored 323 at 32.3, whilst Tayyab Rashid topped the charts with 325 at 46.43. The starts of the bowling represented either end of the age spectrum. Anup Dambal took 18 wickets at 16.67, whilst Ralph Condie had 14 wickets at 13.43. And to finish off the Knockharley story, Tayyab Rashid became the third Knockharley 1 batsman to pass 1000 runs, when he got off the mark (on the way to a century) against Clontarf 3 on June 5 (he finished the season with 1352 runs at 29.39). Joe Ingamells was next to get there when he reached 21 (on the way to 80) against Malahide on July 9. Ingamells now has 1141 runs at 16.78.
Merrion 4 - Runners up - (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 99 - Bowling Rating 107 - RpO for 4.85 - RpO against 4.54
Merrion 4 finished in the same runners-up position as in 2015, the second place that we predicted they would come. If we are to be completely honest, they may have been a bit fortunate to finish so high, with Phoenix and Leinster both being rated slightly higher - but that is the beauty of league cricket. It was a season ruined by the weather, and Merrion only completed nine matches, with losses to Knockharley and Phoenix - and somewhat surprisingly a 161 run defeat to Malahide. But Merrion won't be worried about those upsets, and the two percentage point margin over third place Phoenix was all that mattered. To emphasize the slight under-whelming feeling about the season, only one player passed 200 runs, but that player is one of the most talented to have graced the "lower" leagues in the past few seasons. Ninety five players have scored over 2000 runs in the last six seasons of the Open Competitions, but none have a higher average than Beant Bhatal. In his 57 innings for Castleknock and Merrion, he has scored 2167 runs at 50.40 - the only one of those 95 to average more than 50. He averages 60 in Division 5, 43 in Division 4, 44 in Division 3 and 30 in Division 2. In Division 5 this year he scored 204 runs and was dismissed twice. The bowling was a similar story, with only two bowlers getting into double figures in the wickets tally - Hari Ramasetty taking 12 wickets at 14.92 and Anmol Singh Diddan, 12 at 13.67.
Phoenix 3 - 3rd - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 114 - Bowling Rating 112 - RpO for 4.82 - RpO against 4.78
A crushing disappointment for Phoenix 3, who couldn't quite match their second team's march to the title. Promotion was only just missed out on, and don't need to look any further than the last match of the season. A victory over Merrion 4 would have been enough, but Phoenix got off to a horror start, being 14-3, before recovering somewhat to 177 all out. Alan Parkinson led the chase for Merrion, and in the end it was a relatively comfortable four wicket win for Merrion, and heartbreak for Phoenix. Naeem Shahzad led the way with the bat, scoring a very impressive 341 runs at 42.62 (making him the top run screr in Division 5 this season), with Michael Godwin providing the support with 240 runs at 26.67. Gordon Millar led the bowling with 15 wickets at 10.67 and Chris Cavanagh had another decent season with 14 wickets at 14.29. Phoenix were rated with the third best batting, the second best bowling, and were rated second best team overall - but it wasn't what the league table said.
Leinster 3 - 4th - (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 119 - Bowling Rating 106 - RpO for 4.88 - RpO against 4.42
There will be no complaints from Leinster, who finished in their highest league position since 2011, 36th in the league. The hard work was done up until August 1, when Leinster 3 won five of their six games. The title was a possibility at that stage, but losing their last four games of the season put an end to that. A strong batting team (rated second in the league), never the less had only two players who passed 200 runs for the season. Chris Oosthuizen was top with 265 runs at 29.44 with Chirag Dolia the other member of the bicentury club with 251 runs at 35.86. The bowling was a bit weaker and needed someone taking 17 wickets or more to turn Leinster into a genuine title chasing team. SivaKumar Abbaiahgari took 13 wickets at 18.62, with Dolia completing a fine season with 14 wickets at 16.21. Only Dolia and Tayyab Rashid of Knockharley took over 10 wickets and scored over 200 runs in Division 5. Alan Godfrey became the first Leinster 3 to score 1000 career runs (since 2011), and currently has 1043 runs at 21.73.
Clontarf 3 - 5th - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 102 - Bowling Rating 98 - RpO for 4.73 - RpO against 4.82
Clontarf 3 looked to have recovered from their 2014-2015 slump, with a solid 5th place. It was a performance that still let a few worries, but at least gave hope that they can return to the peaks of 2012 and 2013, when they were amongst the best third teams around. The season was an up and down affair, with five victories spread across the summer, with results ranging from a good pair of wins over Leinster, to a loss against Mullingar. The team lacked batsmen who put in a full season's work; those players who successful seasons are built around. Although nine batsmen got to 100 runs for the season, none bettered Robert Patterson's 191 runs at 23.88. Th ebowling was a similar sroty. Ian Smillie took 11 wickets at 18.18, but there was not too much support for the start of the bowling unit, Damian Gargan, who took 18 wickets at a very useful 10.67. Daniel Ashton is the second player to have 1000 career runs for Clontarf 3 - he finished the season with 1262 runs at 25.24. A mid table finish, that CLontarf will be happy enough after a few poor seasons but more is required.
Pembroke 3 - 6th (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 86 - Bowling Rating 100 - RpO for 4.34 - RpO against 4.44
A "successful" season for Pembroke 3, in that this is the first Pembroke team reviewd that didn't get relegated. As such, 6th place is a decent achievement, but the 38th place is their worst since our records began in 2011, and a long way behind the best of 29th in 2012. Rain caused the year to be a bit of damp squib for Pembroke - there were no matches played in June or September, but there were wins in May, July and August which was enough to comfortably avoid relegation. The batting was the poorer relation. Only Colin Kavanagh (see below) passed 200 runs for the season (207 at 29.57) but only two others (Dale McDonough-Kinkade and David O'Riordan) passed 100 runs. And whilst the bowling attack may have been rated higher, that didn't translate to individual figures. The aging theme is continued, with the only player to take ten wickets being Richard Hastie, with 10 at 26.1. On the career front, a stat to throw up the ridiculousness (at times) of having our current records only starting in 2011. Colin Kavanagh is the first player to pass 1000 runs for Pembroke 3 (1188 at 17.47) despite having a career stretching back through the decades. We can only quote those statistics that have been recorded!
Mullingar 1 - 7th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 81 - Bowling Rating 89 - RpO for 4.23 - RpO against 4.99
A season that always looked like being a tough one for Mullingar 1, saw them finish in the same league spot as 2015. They were saved from relegation due to the OCC in 2015, but whether the same happens in 2016 remains to be seen. Two matches were won all season, with Mullingar showing what they were capable of, with solid home wins against Clontarf and Phoenix. The latter was the highlight of the season, a really good team performance, as Phoenix only made 174 chasing 221 in a 30 over match. As with all teams towards the bottom of the league, the overall team performance is reflected in the stats of the players. With the bat, no one got to 200 runs, with the best being Woody O'Neill's 173 at 19.22, and with the ball there was only one bowler who shone - Patrick Mount with 16 wickets at 15.62. Mount has increased the number of league wickets he has taken for Mullingar 1 every season since his debut in 2013. Daragh Ryan started the season with 800 runs for Mullingar 1, scored 201 in the season, and has now becaome the fourth player to pass the 1000 run mark for the team, with 1001 runs at 15.64.
Malahide 3 - 8th (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 84 - Bowling Rating 62 - RpO for 4.28 - RpO against 5.38
A horror season for Malahide 3, who thumped Merrion by 161 runs in July, but saw little success apart from that. The bowling attack had a season to forget, apart from that one day against Merrion. Two sides scored over 300 (Phoenix and Leinster) and Knockharley, Pembroke and Leinster (again) all managed to top 230. Of those bowlers who bowled more than ten overs, only Steve Smith and David O'Halloran went for less than 4.5 an over. They have fallen from the top 3rd team in the province in 2011, to the 7th best this year. Conor Gibbons was the top wicket taker with 10 wickets at 29.7. Apart from the three matches that Michael O'Brien played (177 runs at 59), James Govan played a lone hand, with 230 runs at 46. A chance to regroup in 2017.
The full Division 5 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here.