Division 7 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2016) - Eugene Brennan (Wexford Wanderers) - 1149 runs @ 31.05
Most runs in a Division 7 season - Nathan Beuck (Greystones) - 495 runs (2013)
Highest score - Sanjay Saharan - 196 - Merrion 5 vs Malahide 4 - Bird Avenue - 6 June 2011
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2016) - Alan Murphy (Wexford Wanderers) - 82 wkts @ 15.04
Most wickets in a Division 7 season - Susheel Kumar (Railway Union) - 27 wkts (2012)
Best bowling - Nabeel Anjum - 7-5 - Sandyford 1 vs Pembroke 4 - Sydney Parade 1 - 17 July 2016
Most matches - Alan Murphy (Wexford Wanderers) - 62 - (2011-2016)
Highest team score - 425-3 - Greystones 1 vs Balbriggan 2 - Marlay Park - 14 Sept 2013
Lowest team score - 37 all out - Wexford Wanderers 1 vs Castleknock 1 - Wexford RFC - 29 Aug 2015
Team of the Year (in batting order) - Senthil Kumar (Sandyford), Bernard O'Mara (Bagenalstown), Marcel Bruns (Bagenalstown), Muhammed Javed (Sandyford), Sivan Mangat (YMCA), Eugene Brennan (Wexford Wanderers), Abrash Khan (Sandyford, wicketkeeper), Amandeep Sahota (Sandyford), Sidharth Kumar (Sandyford), Kamram Sabrie (Laois), Sharjeel Sheikh (Wexford Wanderers)
Review
Runs per wicket for all teams - 19.18 Runs per over for all teams - 4.38
Sandyford 1 - Champions - (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 116 - Bowling Rating 116 - RpO for 5.11 - RpO against 4.41
Sandyford 1 bounced back from 2015's relegation in the best way possible, with their sixth league title and first since 2002. It wasn't a forgone conclusion, and a league that was predicted to be tight lived up to the expectations. The first game of the season saw a loss to (eventual runners up, Laois 2) before a six game winning streak put Sandyford in pole position. Laois were next up, and despite Sidarth Kumar's 5-29, Laois were victorious once more. With six games remaining in the season, much depended on how Laois finished the season. Wins for Sandyford over Pembroke and North Kildare were followed by surprise losses to Bagenalstown and YMCA. Victory in the final two games of the season was now vital (over Wexford Wanderers and Dundrum), and it was achieved by margins of 60 runs and 83 runs, to give Sandyford 1 that first title for fourteen seasons. However, not too such should be taken from this as it was also the lowest (49th) that Sandyford have finished in the league since our analysis began in 2011. Stength in depth in both batting and bowling was they key. Incredibly, nine players passed 100 runs for the season, with the stars of the show being Muhammad Javed and Senthil Kumar. Javed scored 448 runs at 44.80, in his first season in Leinster cricket, beating Raj Padmanaban's 2012 record (432) for most league runs in a season for Sandyford 1. Senthil Kumar scored 398 runs at 44.22, a great return after not playing in 2014 and 2015), and his best return in Leinster cricket. The bowling was a similar story. Six bowlers took at least ten wickets, with two well ahead of the others. Sidharth Kumar took 17 wickets at an incredible average of 6.24 (in only five matches between late June and mid August) and Amandeep Sahota with 20 wickets at 8.70. It was Sahota's best return with the ball by a long way - his previous best was ten wickets at 15.10 in 2014.
Laois 2 - Runners up - (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 98 - Bowling Rating 120 - RpO for 4.26 - RpO against 3.86
Laois 2 surprised many by challenging for the league title all season, and finishing in their highest league position since 2013. In the end luck probably acted against them. They lost less games than winners Sandyford 1, and on reflection, having the match against bottom placed Pembroke 4 rained off probably lost them the title. Bowling was the team's strength, with the opposition all out more often than not. Eight times, Laois' opponents were all out, with five of them being for less than 140. The bowling was sharing between four bowlers. Muhammed Sheraz (see below), Ali Raza (19 wickets at 13.47), Usama Raees (24 at 10.92) and Kamram Sabrie (25 at 10.6). Both beat Mohammed Sheraz's 2014 record of most wickets in a Laois 2 league season. Sheraz needed 14 wickets at the start of the season to be the first to reach 100 wickets for Laois 2, and reached it with ease, ending the season with 104 wickets at 24.03. If there was to be one criticism of the team, it would be that the batting was a bit undercooked. Only Fintan Moore passed 200 runs (225 at 37.50), and three other teams were ranked with better batting orders.
Bagenalstown 1 - 3rd - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 116 - Bowling Rating 96 - RpO for 4.66 - RpO against 4.55
They may have narrowly missed out on promotion, but 2016 was something of a success for Bagenalstown 1. It was their highest league finishing position over the six seasons we have data for, and are now back above their 2011 finishing spot of 52nd. It wasn't looking good in early July. Bagenalstown had lost five of their first six matches, and in those five lost matches, they had been bowled out for between 154 and 92 in each game. But from then on it was a different story. The next six games were all won, with Bagenalstown chasing successfully each time. A final game loss to North Kildare took a small amount of the gloss off, but it was a mightily successful come back. Four batsmen provided the foundation to that comeback. Marcel Bruns (226 at 37.67) and Shane O'Neill (249 at 22.64) had the supporting roles, with Bernard O'Mara (358 at 44.75) and Nadun Srimal Jasinghe (392 at 35.64) the stars.
North Kildare 2 - 4th - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 96 - Bowling Rating 88 - RpO for 4.45 - RpO against 4.63
This column predicted that North Kildare would win the league, and even with retrospect that was the correct call. The team just under performed. The position of 2nd teams can be very revealing when compared to how their first team performs. North Kildare 1 came 15th in the league (excluding Cork County 1), and although on the surface, North Kildare 2's 14th place amongst 2nd teams seems about right, they are behind Laois 2, and only just ahead of Dundrum 2, with Balbriggan 2, Adamstown 2 and Knockharley 2 all hovering just behind. North Kildare 2 should be higher. The season itself was a bit disjointed, with games won and lost in equal measure throughout the season. The fact that 33 players were used didn't help, and such instability doesn't lead to success. Aj Malhan was the only batsman to pass 200 runs (265 at 26.5) and it needed more of the same from others. In fact, without Malhan, the season would have been a disaster - he was also the leading wicket taker with 15 wickets at 11.87. With the ball he did get a bit of support, as Gulab Singh took 13 wickets at 22.69 (to go with 196 runs at 19.60). Malhan and Singh performed well - what happened to everyone else?!
Dundrum 2 - 5th - (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 93 - Bowling Rating 107 - RpO for 4.20 - RpO against 4.02
In the end, a season finished much better for Dundrum 2 than it could of. Splitting the club's matches between St Columba's College (in south Dublin) and Clongowes Wood College (in mid Kildare) was never going to be easy, but the 2nds out-performed their prediction of 6th place to finish comfortably mid table. It was the first time that Dundrum 2 have not improved their league position on a year to year basis, but the 53rd place was still the second highest they have come. The bowling led the way with three bowlers worthy of further attention. Sibi Daniel took 19 wickets at 11.26, Deepu Jose took 17 at 19.12 and Jinto Mathew 21 at 13.42. Mathew has led Dundrum's bowling attack with some aplomb for years - three of the top five highest number of league wickets in a season are his, with the 2016 season lying in second place. He now has 98 league wickets for Dundrum 2 and a further 32 in cup competitions, making 130 at 17.42 for Dundrum 2 overall. It wasn't just with the ball that Mathew excelled, as he also scored 283 runs at 35.38, but the leading scorer was Paras Bhardwaj's 341 runs at 28.42.
Wexford Wanderers 1 - 6th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 85 - Bowling Rating 114 - RpO for 3.50 - RpO against 4.04
Wexford Wanderers 1 finished in the same position as in 2015, confounding predictions that they would be relegated. Their home record was once again their strength, with only Sandyford and Bagenalstown managing to beat them. Not surprisingly, the bowling attack was the stronger suit, although only four bowled more than 30 overs, and all four took ten wicket or more. Eugene Brennan took 11 wicket at 12,73 (although that included 6-7 against North Kildare in May!), Alan Murphy took 10 wickets at 12.80, Tony Murray 13 at 18.08 and Sharjeel Shaikh 12 at 7.0. From a career perspective Alan Murphy became the second player (after Eugene Brennan) to score 1000 career runs for Wexford Wanderers 1, and now has 1123 at 17.83. That reliance on Brennan and Murphy can be seen from the pair being the only two to pass 100 runs in 2016, Murphy with 133 at 16.62, and Brennan with 204 at 51.
YMCA 4 - 7th (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 104 - Bowling Rating 88 - RpO for 4.43 - RpO against 4.53
A bittersweet season for YMCA 4. The second highest 4th team in the province finished in their highest ever league placing (55th) but still finished in the relegation places. It was a close run thing, and victory in the last match of the season against Wexford Wanderers could have been enough - but rain and bad light finished off the match before the denouement. There was no rhyme nor reason to YM's 7th spot. In fact our rankings say that they deserve to be in 6th, and their batting was the third best, with only Sandyford and Bagenalstown above them. But it wasn't to be, and sometimes you just have to accept reality. There is a reason that Merrion 4 are the only fourth team to be playing at such a high level - it isn't easy! Two youth players led the bowling attack, with Sivan Mangat leading the way with 16 wickets at 10.75 and Mikey O'Reilly taking 12 t 21.17. The batting painted a happier picture, although despite five players getting 100 seasonal runs, no one got past 200. Mangat completed a fine season with 198 at 28.29 and a third youth player, Elliott Johns was next with 193 at 24.12. Fittingly, Derek Dockrell (definitely not a youth player) has moved top of the YMCA 4 run scoring charts, becoming the second to 1000 runs (and passing the first, Andrew Blair-White in the process). The soon to be President of Cricket Leinster has 1081 runs at 31.79.
Pembroke 4 - 8th (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 85 - Bowling Rating 77 - RpO for 4.02 - RpO against 4.93
Like YMCA 4, Pembroke 4 should take heart in being in the top rak of 4th teams. However, unlike YMCA, Pembroke are on their way down, and finished in their lowest league position since 2011. There were two good wins over North Kildare, and a Graham Twomey inspired win over YMCA, but two end of season walkovers meant there was no chance of Pembroke staying up. No one passed 200 runs for the season, although Sugata Gupta (See below) nearly got there with 199 at 22.11. Ahmed Zibran Shovon was the only other to get to 150 runs, and he finished with 178 at 17.8. On paper, the bowling did much better, with four bowlers passing ten wickets. But all four went for over 15 runs per wicket, and only one did a team not get to 150. In fact five of the eighteen scores of 200 or more in Division 7 were against Pembroke (the others were against Bagenalstown (3), North Kildare (3), Sandyford (2), YMCA (2), Laois (1), Wexford Wanderers (1), Dundrum (1)). Justin Doherty started the season with 99 wickets for Pembroke 4 (since full records began in 2011), and had to wait until his second game of the season against Wexford Wanderers on May 15. He finished the season with an excellent career total of 120 wickets at 19.38 for Pembroke 4. On June 18, Paddy Halpin scored 60 against Dundrum 2 to become the first Pembroke 4 player with 1000 career runs (1065 at 20.09). He was nearly beaten to the landmark by Sugata Gupta who started the season needing 191 runs to reach 1000, and started the season with 30, 79 and 62. However, the remaining 20 runs took another three matches, and Gupta passed 1000 on July 17, finishing the season with 1070 at 19.45.
The full Division 7 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here.