Cricket Leinster

Fantasy league returns with a smile not a scowl

Some of you may have noticed that the “Fantasy” leagues have been missing from the news feed of the Cricketleinster website for the past couple of weeks. It has made, hopefully for you the reader, for a pleasant break, a renewed enthusiasm for numbers and formulas and a lack of things to rant about due to the pleasant, sporting games of cricket played during the recent great weather.

The break does mean that there are many changes to the various categories and new leaders abound. The season is now at the stage where re-fixes can be played. The idea of evening twenty over games is a welcome one and whoever made the decision to accept T20 games for the leagues deserves praise. The usual suspects in such cases are Michael Sharp and Paul Reynolds, although others may be involved. It is now getting to the stage where it will not be long before a league is set up for purely Monday night games of twenty overs, or when a league season is decided by a week night game. It does mean everyone is playing more cricket and that can only be a good thing. More games, more points.

There is no “What grinds my gears…” this week as I don’t have anything to rant about. Any suggestions of topics or subjects for future columns will be most welcome. However in a rare burst or joy and happiness this week we feature a couple of clubs and their members. Bagnalstown is a club based, as many of you know, down the M9 and is a ground surrounded on two sides by a pitch and putt course (which can come into use during rain delays if you’ve remembered to leave a couple of balls and a wedge in the boot). The other two sides contain some of the most fabulous views of the countryside. They have not had the most success on the field over the last couple of years, but certainly had an opportunity to celebrate after defeating Pembroke in Division 12 recently. A game between two evenly matched teams played well within the Spirit of the Game. Even the defeated team could not help but be delighted for the winning team, but especially for the youth members who showed that the future of Bagnalstown is very bright indeed. No rancour, no arguments, no disputes and a close game of cricket. A perfect day (except for the loss).

Phoenix also have a team in Division 12, which along with Bagnalstown and Pembroke will probably not be winning too many trophies this season, like Bagnalstown, are investing in youth and their investment will ensure cricket in The Park will continue to flourish under the guidance of captains such as Graham Mooney. Monday evening, under a cloudy but mercifully dry sky, witnessed an entire game with fewer appeals than can be heard in a single over some weeks. As the two teams had met in the past fortnight, it was an evening game very much looked forward to and lived up to its billing. Future stars shone bright on both sides and the old men provided guidance and leadership, although maybe not many runs.

Enough of the gushing and praise and sunshine and, and, well, yuck! It’s all a bit too sweet and sugary and not what sells books. Far better the column is returned back to the bitter-swilling grumpy old man and his penchance for analysis of figures. To think that cricket scores used to be kept by cutting notches in sticks and now we have access to all manner of possible numbers. It will continue to evolve and one can only imagine the version of this column in thirty years.

Fantasy “overall point scorer”. A change of clubs seems to have inspired R. Strydom, now of Malahide, as he not only leads, but does so by 71 points. In R. Strydom and F. McAllister (9^th place here) Malahide have a destructive and lucrative opening partnership.

R Strydom Malahide 1713
M Collier Clontarf 1642
M Farrukh Balbriggan 1465
U Raees Laois 1398
T Affleck North County 1376
S Kumar R&SPU 1342
Gareth Delany Leinster 1331
Jono Cook Pembroke 1313
Fintan McAllister Malahide 1282
Khalid Chaudhary Wicklow 1266
Jeremy Dunleavy Pembroke 1264
Harry Tector YMCA 1250
H Shivmangal Knockharley 1220
Fiachra Tucker Pembroke 1186
M Singh Greystones 1175
Andrew Poynter Clontarf 1162
K Neela Merrion 1158
J Murphy Rush 1154
E Lenehan Greystones 1149
R Jones Terenure 1143
S Singh YMCA 1127
B Singh Bhathal Merrion 1119
Dom Joyce Merrion 1101
Pat Collins R&SPU 1099
R Wing Malahide 1095
Sanil Gupta Pembroke 1094
S Doheny Rush 1093
Andrew Delany Clontarf 1084
J Carroll Leinster 1083
T Richardson North County 1073
S Boddu Sandyford 1053
P Peethambaran Sandyford 1052
A Nazir Clontarf 1047
M Lunson Phoenix 1045
T Kane Merrion 1044
C Dolia Leinster 1037
B Thompson Merrion 1027
A Carr Pembroke 1026
V Krishna Merrion 1017

On a points per game basis the overall leaders table would contain a large percentage of one or two-game wonders, but certainly not in that category is J. Carroll of Leinster, M. Farrukh of Balbriggan and J. Ahmed of Slieve Bloom. The actual leaders are:

games points

I Mohammed R&SPU 1 190.00
K Mistri North Kildare 1 159.00
S Kamat Tyrrelstown 1 157.00
J Carroll Leinster 9 120.30
A Zeb Merrion 2 115.50
M Farrukh Balbriggan 13 112.70
David Poff Pembroke 2 106.00
J Ahmad Slieve Bloom 8 103.60
A Saddique Cork County 5 100.20
R Achanta Tyrrelstown 1 100.00
D O'Neill North Kildare 4 94.50
P Sheridan Rush 6 94.17
R Swift Merrion 1 93.00
L Fernando Wexford Wanderers 2 92.00
J Threadgold Halverstown 2 91.50
Danny Barclay Greystones 6 90.83
D Gargan Clontarf 7 90.71
U Saleem Knockharley 3 90.33
A Coates Ring Commons 7 90.29
N Srimal Bagnalstown 7 90.29
G Cosgrove Malahide 1 90.00

Runs scored leader is Fintan McAllister of Malahide and the Leinster Lightning, and as previously mentioned, the overall leaders opening partner. Fintan has also opened a useful gap at the top of the table with 77 runs in hand over his chasers. Twenty players have passed 500 runs for the season to date, although it will be interesting to see how many get to reach 1,000 for the season. Time could be running out for some, although there could be a late rush by others.

F McAllister Malahide 872
M Farrukh Balbriggan 795
R Strydom Malahide 743
M Collier Clontarf 692
B Thompson Merrion 667
A Poynter Clontarf 652
T Affleck North County 646
S Boddu Sandyford 643
K Carroll R&SPU 586
R Wing Malahide 585
C Mallon Leinster 583
B Singh Bhathal Merrion 569
S Currie Clontarf 550
E Lenehan Greystones 549
J Cook Pembroke 543
Adrian Harper Balbriggan 529
J Dunleavy Pembroke 514
B Coghlan Clontarf 507
J Carroll Leinster 503
S Doheny Rush 503

The race for wickets is a far closer one than the runs scored. Seven wickets cover the top ten bowlers with leader S. Kumar of R&SPU on 36, just one ahead of Phoenix’s Matt Lunson. Here are the top twenty-one bowlers, at least in terms of wickets taken.

S Kumar R&SPU 36
M Lunson Phoenix 35
K Neela Merrion 33
R Strydom Malahide 32
U Raees Laois 31
N Sharma Merrion 31
Harry Tector YMCA 30
P Rodgers Leinster 30
C D'arcy Clontarf 29
V Mohanan Clontarf 29
K Chaudhary Wicklow 28
M Jacob Swords 28
L Clinton The Hills 28
G Delany Leinster 27
F Tucker Pembroke 27
D Lappin Leinster 27
Z Van Der Merwe Clontarf 27
A Kavanagh The Hills 27
A Morris Malahide 27
R Chawla YMCA 27
A Craig Clontarf 27

Catches and stumpings combined this week, as an easy way out, in the form of points earned. A more detailed analysis is available upon request.

N Pretorius The Hills 300
S Murphy YMCA 265
P Byrne R&SPU 240
Robert Forrest Clontarf 240
S Katta Laois 235
E Sheehan Rush 215
P Moor YMCA 205
S Kurian Dundrum 205
C Currie Clontarf 190
Sean Rooney North County 185

In other categories…..the top ten and ties…

Matches played

C Shoebridge Malahide 27
Diarmuid Tucker Pembroke 27
M Collier Clontarf 26
Sanil Gupta Pembroke 26
J Kerrison Leinster 25
R Wing Malahide 24
K Ali North County 24
N Rooney North County 24
N Sharma Merrion 24
R Jones Terenure 22
C Allwright Merrion 22
B Kumar R&SPU 22
M Raza R&SPU 22

Innings batted

M Collier Clontarf 26
R Wing Malahide 24
Diarmuid Tucker Pembroke 22
N Rooney North County 22
Sanil Gupta Pembroke 22
P Byrne R&SPU 21
C Allwright Merrion 21
B Makhwana R&SPU 21
R Jones Terenure 20
M Raza R&SPU 20
T Faheem Balbriggan 20
B Kumar R&SPU 20
M Cotter Terenure 20
J Dunleavy Pembroke 20

Not outs (inns & not outs)

C Shoebridge Malahide 19 9
P Kingston DUCC 15 9
K Ali North County 11 9
Shair-Afgan Chaudhary Leinster 9 8
G Deans Malahide 19 7
JJ Garth Pembroke 13 7
J David Merrion 10 7
E Whaley Pembroke 10 7
B Boland Clontarf 18 6
B Thompson Merrion 16 6
S Singh YMCA 14 6
B Smyth North County 13 6
K Everard The Hills 11 6
R Jaffer Mullingar 7 6
S Shoukath Dundrum 6 6

Highest scores

U Saleem Knockharley 166*
I Mohammed R&SPU 160
M Farrukh Balbriggan 152
Danny Barclay Greystones 152
G Delany Leinster 151
J Carroll Leinster 147*
R Strydom Malahide 145
E Ahmed Balbriggan 144
J Altaf Clontarf 143
K Khan R&SPU 141*

Number of half centuries

T Affleck North County 7
R Strydom Malahide 6
F McAllister Malahide 6
B Coghlan Clontarf 5
A Poynter Clontarf 5
S Boddu Sandyford 5
A Hashmi Lucan 5
S John Greystones 5
M Collier Clontarf 5
21 players 4

Centurions – only 7 players have made more than one century, with a further 69 players having achieved the century once. Balbriggan’s M. Farrukh is the clear leader with three.

M Farrukh Balbriggan 3
F McAllister Malahide 2
S Currie Clontarf 2
B Thompson Merrion 2
Adrian Harper Balbriggan 2
D Gargan Clontarf 2
K Khan R&SPU 2

Batting average

I Mohammed R&SPU 160
M Bauer Cork County 144.5
J Carroll Leinster 125.75
J Fitzsimons Greystones 101.67
A Kelleher Terenure 101
U Saleem Knockharley 100.5
F George Thomas Dundrum 94.5
K Mistri North Kildare 94
D O'Neill North Kildare 89
M Duffy Malahide 85.33

Most runs without an average

H Yadav Adamstown 68
D Tiwari Longford 67
R Swift Merrion 63
U Shahid Adamstown 50
T Mencinsky North Kildare 47
S Shoukath Dundrum 41
A Cusack Clontarf 39
R Hattaway Evening Herald 39
R Condie Knockharley 37
P Duffy R&SPU 28

Overs bowled

A Morris Malahide 156.3
R Strydom Malahide 155
N Sharma Merrion 152
Z Van Der Merwe Clontarf 143.4
N Shoukat The Hills 138
P Rodgers Leinster 136.3
J Cook Pembroke 133.3
F Tucker Pembroke 132.1
P Saville Malahide 131.3
L Clinton The Hills 130.2

Best bowling analysis

M Syfuzzaman Khan Wicklow 8-5
M Lunson Phoenix 7-5
C Siddell Malahide 7-11
S Kumar R&SPU 7-13
D Poff Pembroke 7-47
N Qureshi Castleknock 6-8
M Nandanan Swords 6-9
A Pathak North Kildare 6-10
P Collins R&SPU 6-11
J Murphy Rush 6-18
S Barik Adamstown 6-18

Most 5 wickets in an innings – eight players have done so more than once, a further 86 players have done so once.

P Collins R&SPU 2
J Murphy Rush 2
Eddie Richardson North County 2
K Neela Merrion 2
M Lunson Phoenix 2
C D'arcy Clontarf 2
S Mathews Cabinteely 2
A Mustafi Lucan 2

Best Bowling average (average followed by wickets)

M Mathai Swords 0.00 1
E Paiva Swords 2.00 2
A Seth Merrion 2.75 4
Max ‘The Ayatollah’ McNamara Pembroke 3.00 1
A Zeb Merrion 3.50 4
N Patel Sandyford 3.50 2
S Kamat Tyrrels 3.60 5
N Polgolla Evening Herald 4.00 3
Conor McGuire Rush 4.00 2
V Prasanna Malahide 4.00 2
S Hadley Bagnalstown 4.00 1

Most innings without scoring a run

innings

G McKeever Dundalk 6
A Tudor Laois 5
A Mustafi Lucan 4
F Boyle Dundalk 4
E Bosano-Andrews Dundalk 4
M Shoebridge Malahide 2
A Wootton Cork County 2
O Cotter Cork County 2
J Horan DUCC 2
L Sithelo Castleknock 2
A Byrne North Kildare 2
F Hassan Balbriggan 2
A Dawson Civil Service 2
R Rodrigues Sandyford 2
A Bourke Lucan 2
Mark "team manager" Crowley Pembroke 2
J McNamee Balbriggan 2

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