Division 12
Champions – Adamstown 2
League MVP – Aidan Chester [Phoenix]
In 2012 Division 12 was a one horse race with Greystones storming through to the title and a five division promotion. The fact that Greystones went on to win Division 7 by 22% in 2013 shows that either the gap in talent between divisions 12 and 7 is far narrower than you’d think or that Greystones were far too good to be placed in Division 12 last season. It is a graphic illustration of the difficulties the OCC face in putting new teams into the leagues at the right level[1].
The 2013 season saw new teams again dominate, with Adamstown 2nds winning the division ahead of Lucan. Both teams won 12 out of their 16 games, with Adamstown’s ability to collect 57 out of a possible 80 bonus points leaving them 17 points ahead of Lucan. Of the nine teams in this division it was most pleasing to see just one walkover win being awarded[2]. There were three games which fell to a no result, presumably due to a wet weekend somewhere along the line. Swords and Dundalk suffered this fate twice.
At the other end of the table, Dundalk 2nds had to wait until half way through the season to record their first win. Their policy of ensuring selection was geared towards encouraging the maximum amount of players, rather than the chasing of wins and points counted against them, but did help build the club, and a friendlier club you would be hard pressed to find. When Pembroke were unable to field a team on the arranged date and offered the walkover, Dundalk refused it and offered to host both league games a week apart at their own ground. The fact that Dundalk would rather play than take the points was most admirable. Their ground must be one of the few in Leinster to boast a covered stand for the spectators and with the improvements in the motorway road system is only an hour away from Dublin.
Dundalk also received at least a couple of nominations for the Cricket Ireland Club of the Year Award. They failed to make the shortlist which consisted of major trophy winners and Senior clubs only. One hopes that they are at least acknowledged by Cricket Ireland at their Awards Night. The efforts of the members to nurture their club and attempts to encourage the growth of cricket in an area where other sports hold the ascendency is admirable. One hopes that Cricket Leinster will provide some additional coaching and support in the years to come and also that Dundalk 2nds do well next season in Division 13.
Similar to Divisions 14 and 13 the individual MVP did not come from the league winners. Aidan Chester [Phoenix] was the only player to pass 1,000 points in Division 12 and in doing so he finished 71 points ahead of S. Gallagher [Halverstown] and the rest of the field. 367 runs scored including two half centuries were scored in 12 innings and 6 not outs brought Aidan a batting average of over 60. His overall points total was 1,318 and good enough for fifth place in his Club and 65th overall.
The top ten point scorers in Division 13 were:
It is gratifying to see such a good mix of the young and not so young making the top 10. There is room for everyone here, with Phoenix skipper Graham Mooney being rewarded for his consistency whilst Under 13 player Sanil Gupta often provided the spark that enabled Pembroke to climb away from the relegation zone late in the season.
308 players appeared in Division 12, with 84 appearing just the once. Top of the appearances table were players from the top 2 teams in the league, S. Mathew [Adamstown] and Manjinder Singh [Lucan]. Both players managed to appear in every league game, whilst Lucan had a further 3 players who only missed one game. Having 4 players turning out each and every week, home and away does make a captain’s job of assembling a side so much easier and meant that Lucan only used 23 players all season. This is considerably less than the 41 used by the Leinster team, who eventually were relegated with Dundalk.
Only one player passed 400 runs for the season, M. Jacob [Swords]. Youngster S. Currie [Clontarf] picked up the Under 13 plate as well as being the second top run scorer in the division. Equalling his total of 377 was T. Wardrop [Halverstown] and they were just 4 runs ahead of A. Ahluwalia [Lucan]. The top five run scorers were:
Only one century was scored in Division 12. Sanil Gupta [Pembroke] managed to reach three figures against Leinster in St. Columba’s College, whilst his elder brother Sid Gupta will rue the fact he was left stranded on 99* against Dundalk when the overs ran out. T. Wardrop [Halverstown] would have been even more disappointed you’d feel being dismissed with his century also just one run away.
65 half centuries were recorded by 47 players, with 14 players making more than one. The fourteen were:
Ian Smillie [Clontarf] tops the batting average with 102.00 with 102 runs from two innings including a 94*. The top 5 batting averages (with no qualifications, but innings shown in brackets) were as follows, but it is telling that the only player in the top 5 to bat more than twice was the overall winner Aidan Chester:
There were 11 batsmen who technically have an average of infinity, having scored runs and not been dismissed at all. They are shown here with their runs and number of innings: Ian Anders (94/1) [Phoenix], Declan O’Brien (51/1) [Leinster], Z. Singh (27/1) [Leinster], A. Kerrison (26/1) [Leinster], S. Godara (25/1) [Adamstown], Eamon Byrne (14/1) [Leinster], K. Threadgold (12/1) [Halverstown], S. Sivanandakumar (7/1) [Swords], A. Vincent (6/2) [Clontarf], Rony Mathew (4/1) [Swords] and G. Beaumont (2/1) [Halverstown].
If a qualfying mark of 320 runs is included the batting average table would have been:
Overall winner Aidan Chester [Phoenix] and S. Gallagher [Halverstown] have to share the most wickets accolade with both managing to snare 25 wickets for the season in Division 12. The top 5 (and ties) wicket takers were:
The top five (and ties) bowling averages were as follows with the number of wickets taken in brackets also:
With a qualifying mark of 16 wickets the bowling averages table is:
In order of the best bowling analyses, the players who took a five wicket haul were:
Two bowlers topped 100 overs for the season, which you think that the maximum possible is 128 is one big workload. The top five bowlers in terms of balls delivered were:
126 players held at least one of the 289 catches this season in Division 12. Sanil Gupta [Pembroke] and G. Toor [Adamstown] held 8 each to top this category. As only three stumpings were affected all season it is hard to know whether G. Toor kept, although the fact that he took 13 wickets bowling would suggest he did not. Sanil Gupta kept for a full six overs for Pembroke in one game when at least four players donned the gloves during the Dundalk innings. Once again he bettered his brother’s tally by a small amount for family bragging rights. The top five (and ties) were:
The 3 stumpings were taken by J. Ebbs [Phoenix], J. Kumar [Lucan] and A. Gilbride [Clontarf].
E. Bosano-Andrews [Dundalk] played in 5 games, batted 5 times, was dismissed 4 times and did not score a run. S. Gilson [Dundalk] bowled 13 overs without taking a wicket and J. Toor [Adamstown] played in 15 games without taking a catch.
Player Unregistered played just the once, for Lucan, but despite not scoring any runs, did take 3/23 in 5 overs to make it 70 points earned. Lucan did not receive any penalties for this player, but Leinster did suffer a 5 point penalty for the late submission of a scorecard.
The one player was destined to “trouble the scorers” is G. Purappanathaanam [Swords] with that 16-letter surname which is the longest non-hythenated surname in the Leinster leagues. However he still remains well short of the longest surname in First Class cricket which was the Fijian with the 47 letter surname, Illikena Lasarusa Talebulamainavalenivevakbulaimainakulalakebalau[3] whereas at the other end of the scale in this division were H. Gul [Lucan] and J. Cox [Clontarf].
In terms of players used (including Player Unregistered), the league looks like this:
As with all of these articles, the views expressed therein of those of the author and definitely do not represent those of the Leinster Cricket Union. They might match your views, but if they do, it is more likely to be a co-incidence than anything else. They are to be considered merely the inconsequential ramblings of a fool. Any feedback or requests for individual, team, Club or all-encompassing statistics may be sent to craig@cricket.ie.