Fantasy Table - the final round up of 2013

It is October, rain tumbling down, traffic at a standstill, evenings closing in. This isn’t Kansas, it’s the off-season. The cricket season is definitely over and as we all prepare for seven months of inactivity, all we have left are memories. Well, memories and statistics.

Congratulations to our first joint winners of the fantasy league, Pat Collins [R&SPU] and Eddie Richardson [North County]. After over 2,000 games of cricket the top two can not be split. A grand total of 2,194 points achieved for each of our winners. Long-time leader Pat Collins scored 1,014 runs with 5 half centuries and 5 centuries, plus 37 wickets and 2 five wicket hauls and 6 catches. Eddie Richardson reached his total with 974 runs, 6 fifties and 2 centuries, plus 42 wickets including 2 five wicket hauls and 4 catches. Worthy winners, especially when you consider they reached the top playing only in Division 1 and in only 21 games for Pat and only one more for Eddie.

In third place, having played 42 games, is Simon Rice [Greystones] with 2,088 points. Simon was also the leading wicket taker in Leinster cricket this season with 62 victims.

Six players managed to top 2,000 points and 16 players topped last years winning total of 1,806 points. The top ten overall point scorers in 2013 were:

• 2,194 - Pat Collins [R&SPU] & Eddie Richardson [North County]
• 2,088 – Simon Rice [Greystones]
• 2,083 – M. Singh [Greystones]
• 2,026 – N. Muhammad [R&SPU]
• 2,001 – Simmi Singh [YMCA]
• 1,983 – Ian Smillie [Clontarf]
• 1,967 – Diarmaid Tucker [Pembroke]
• 1,964 – M. Jacob [Swords]
• 1,939 – Fiachra Tucker [Pembroke]

A total of 2,253 players appeared in Leinster cricket this season, an increase of 94 over the previous season’s total of 2,159. Top ten in appearances were:

• 42 – Simon Rice [Greystones]
• 37 – D. Singh [R&SPU]
• 36 – H. Tanveer [Civil Service], M. Singh [Greystones], Fiachra Tucker [Pembroke], P. Flanagan [YMCA].
• 35 – Ian Smillie [Clontarf], Diarmaid Tucker [Pembroke], Adam Ellison [Rush]
• 34 – M. Jacob [Swords].

Three players managed to pass 1,000 runs for the season, and in total 289,481 runs were scored by batsmen, but leading the way was Lynal Jansen [Rush] with 1,081 runs. The top ten were:

• 1,081 – Lynal Jansen [Rush]
• 1,030 – K. Khan [R&SPU]
• 1,014 – Pat Collins [R&SPU]
• 992 – H. Tanveer [Civil Service]
• 974 – Eddie Richardson [North County]
• 906 – S. Murphy [YMCA]
• 900 – Tom Fisher [Terenure Titans]
• 886 – N. Muhammad [R&SPU]
• 861 – J. Singh [Laois]
• 844 – N. Shazad [Phoenix]

Leading the wicket taker was Simon Rice [Greystones] with 62, 10 ahead of last season’s leading total. 14,425 wickets fell to bowlers in 2013, well ahead of 2012’s 11,815. The top ten in 2013 were:

• 62 – Simon Rice [Greystones]
• 56 – Adam Ellison [Rush]
• 54 – M. Singh [Greystones]
• 51 – Fiachra Tucker [Pembroke]
• 50 – R. Sullivan [Clontarf]
• 48 – Diarmaid Tucker [Pembroke]
• 47 – P. Flanagan [YMCA]
• 46 – Ian Smillie [Clontarf]
• 45 – P. Mount [Mullingar], B. Adams [Phoenix]

Leading the catching category was Robert Forrest [Clontarf] with 27. Catches are always a difficult category to analyse, not knowing who is a regular keeper and who spent their summer entirely in the outfield. However, the top ten (and ties) catch takers were:

• 27 – Robert Forrest [Clontarf]
• 25 – Nic Pretorius [The Hills]
• 20 – M. Cotter [Terenure Titans], B. Smyth [North County], Tom Fisher [Terenure Titans], I. Coleman [Cork], K. Beasley [Merrion]
• 19 – D. Monk [Laois], I. Smillie [Clontarf]
• 17 – J. Cassidy [YMCA], S. Murphy [YMCA], J. Kerrison [Leinster], R. Forrest [Leinster & DU], Diarmaid Tucker [Pembroke], Simmi Singh [YMCA], O. Rasool [Laois], Willie Houston [Greystones].

Finishing the main categories, and before I descend into less relevant figures, are the leading stumpers. 2012’s total of 287 was not reached this season with a total of 264 victims falling to the sharpness of keepers. The top ten (and ties) were:

• 10 – Nic Pretorius [The Hills]
• 9 – M. Cotter [Terenure Titans], S. Kurian [Dundrum]
• 8 - J. Cassidy [YMCA], R. Maybury [Clontarf], R. Watkins [Merrion], Mick Dwyer [The Hills]
• 6 – Lorcan Tucker [Pembroke], B. Smyth [North County], P. Byrne [R&SPU], G. Russell [Balbriggan], M. Donegan [The Hills].

As no minimums are applied in this table, some leading figures do go to players who might not have played much cricket, but had exceptional games when they did. An example of this can be seen in the leading batting averages. To demonstrate this, the number of games played is also displayed alongside the averages. The top ten batting averages were:

• 117.00 – R. Chalissery (4 games) [Ring Commons], B. Thambi (1 game) [Castleknock]
• 103.00 – I. Cox (2) [Walnut]
• 87.50 – J. Quinlan (2) [Merrion]
• 74.20 – J. Awan (9) [Slieve Bloom]
• 72.43 – Pat Collins (21) [R&SPU]
• 70.60 – J. Tasman-Jones (7) [Dublin University]
• 70.00 – Nabeel Khan (6) [Castleknock]
• 69.00 – David Byrne (3) {The Hills]
• 64.00 – David Drane (7) [Greystones]

Two players managed to take wickets without conceding any runs at all for an average of 0.00. In this category we also show the number of overs bowled also. The top ten bowling averages are:

• 0.00 – P. Donoghue (0.3 overs: 2 wickets) [Balbriggan], C. Garry (0.1: 1) [North County]
• 1.00 – Ted Williamson (0.1: 1) {Terenure Titans]
• 2.00 – R. McGovern (1:1) [YMCA], M. Sharma (4:1)
• 2.50 – S. Larkin (2:2) [Balbriggan]
• 3.00 – C. McCann (2:1) [Rush]
• 3.50 – M. Varghese (5:2) [Swords]
• 4.00 – T. Ryan (5.4:4) [Civil Service], RR Varughese (8:3) [Swords], B. Sweeney (5:1) [Greystones], R. Achanta (4.3:1) [Tyrellstown], E. O’Neill (1:1) [Leinster], D. Martin (2:1) [Dublin University].

 The best bowling analysis remained with Adam Ellison [Rush] for a large part of the season with his 7/11. Whilst only 5 bowlers managed a seven wicket haul, a further 34 took six in one innings. Due to the nature of the figures, each bowler is only shown with his best figures. Therefore even if Adam Ellison took a further haul of 7/12 it does not show here. The top ten analyses were:

• 7/11 – Adam Ellison [Rush]
• 7/19 – F. Khanlid [Castleknock]
• 7/25 – U. Raees [Laois]
• 7/33 – Pat Collins [R&SPU]
• 7/40 – W. Richardson [Malahide]
• 6/10 – A. Ravi [R&SPU]
• 6/11 – A. Farooqui [The Hills], A. Sahota [Sandyford]
• 6/12 – Anto Burke [Sandyford]
• 6/14 – MU Arshad [R&SPU]

 The highest scores by batsmen, like the bowling analyses, can only include one per player. Top of the list is M. Siddique’s 194 which is 24 ahead of second. Fourteen players managed to reach 150. The top ten are:

• 194 – M. Siddque [Civil Service]
• 170 – Andre Botha [Clontarf]
• 168* - H. Pike [Dublin University]
• 168 – J. Quinlan [Merrion]
• 162 – Lynal Jansen [Rush]
• 160 – Tayyab Rashid [Knockharley]
• 159* - Com Reilly [Balbriggan]
• 158 – Bill Coughlan [Clontarf]
• 157 – M. Gregg [Phoenix]
• 155* - R. Lawrence [Terenure Titans]
• 155 – Anto Coates [Ring Commons]

256 centuries were reached this season. Whilst 127 players reached this landmark, the 22 players who scored more than one were as follows, whilst the clubs are shown for those who scored one:

• 5 – Pat Collins [R&SPU]
• 4 – Lynal Jansen [Rush]
• 3 – S. McGrath [Greystones], S. Mehdi [Balbriggan]
• 2 – Tom Fisher [Terenure Titans], T. Lynch [Terenure Titans], R. Forrest [Dublin University], Patrick Byrne [The Hills], C. McLoughlin [The Hills], Kenny Carroll [R&SPU], N. Muhammad [R&SPU], N. Beuck [Greystones], A. Butterly [Rush], Anto Coates [Ring Commons], M. Mughal [Laois], Eddie Richardson [North County], John Mooney [North County], Conor Armstrong [North County], M. Singh [North County], M. Safeen [Civil Service], C. Keene [Sandyford], W. O’Neill [Mullingar].
• 1 – Clontarf (x9), Malahide (x9), YMCA (x9), Merrion (x8), R&SPU (x7), Greystones (x6), The Hills (x6), Laois (x6), Dublin University (x5), Pembroke (x5), Terenure Titans (x4), Balbriggan (x3), Castleknock (x3), North County (x3), Phoenix (x3), Rush (x3), Adamstown (x2), Civil Service (x2), Sandyford (x2), Wexford Wanderers (x2), Bagnalstown (x1), Cork County (x1), Knockharley (x1), Leinster (x1), Ring Commons (x1), Slieve Bloom (x1)

615 players shared out 1,221 fifties. The top ten (and ties) players for multiple 50’s were as follows, whilst the number per club scoring fifties are also shown for those scoring five 50’s and below.

• 9 – K. Khan [R&SPU]
• 7 – S. Murphy [YMCA], B. Thompson [Merrion], S. Iqbal [Rush], U. Siraj [R&SPU], H. Tanveer [Civil Service]
• 6 - Tom Fisher [Terenure Titans], C. McLoughlin [The Hills], Eddie Richardson [North County], Nic Pretorius [The Hills], Matt Sorenson [The Hills], N. Shazad [Phoenix], Sunil Thomas [Swords], R. Abbasi [Castleknock]
• 5 – Merrion (x3 players), Clontarf (x2), R&SPU (x2), Rush (x2), The Hills (x2), Civil Service (x1), Knockharley (x1), Laois (x1), Slieve Bloom (x1), YMCA (x1).
• 4 – Dundrum (x4), Clontarf (x2), Leinster (x2), Malahide (x2), Merrion (x2), North County (x2), Phoenix (x2), R&SPU (x2), Terenure Titans (x2), Adamstown (x1), Cabinteely (x1), Civil Service (x1), Dundalk (x1), Laois (x1), North Kildare (x1), Pembroke (x1), Ring Commons (x1), Rush (x1), Slieve Bloom (x1), Wicklow County (x1), YMCA (x1).
• 3 – Laois (x6), Leinster (x6), Pembroke (x5), Phoenix (x5), R&SPU (x5), Knockharley (x4), The Hills (x3), Malahide (x3), North County (x3), YMCA (x3), Adamstown (x2), Balbriggan (x2), Castleknock (x2), Civil Service (x2), Dundrum (x2), Longford (x2), Lucan (x2), Merrion (x2), North Kildare (x2), Rush (x2), Wicklow County (x2), Bagnalstown (x1), Clontarf (x1), Cork County (x1), Greystones (x1), Halverstown (x1), Ring Commons (x1), Sandyford (x1), Terenure Titans (x1).

 Five wicket hauls are harder to come by what with limited overs for bowlers and three is the most any one bowler has managed. There were 176 in total spread amongst 151 players. The most by any one player was 3. The players who managed more than one were:

• 3 – Naveed Khan [Civil Service], A Farooqui [The Hills], I. Mohammad [North Kildare], B. Adams [Phoenix]
• 2 – F. Khalid [Castleknock], A. Mathew [Dundrum], Q. Roux [Greystones], Simon Rice [Greystones], R. Adi [Knockharley], H. Manks [Malahide], Eddie Richardson [North County], B. White [Phoenix], Pat Collins [R&SPU], Adam Ellison [Rush], P. Peethambaran [Sandyford], A Sahota [Sandyford], Anto Burke [Sandyford], A Jacob [Swords], Diarmaid Lynch [Terenure Titans], P. Flanagan [YMCA], Robbie Garth [YMCA].
• 1 – 130 players.

11 players batted 30 times or more in 2013. They were:

• 35 – H. Tanveer [Civil Service]
• 34 – M. Jacob [Swords]
• 32 – P. Byrne [R&SPU], D. Singh [R&SPU]
• 31 – M. Godwin [Phoenix], N. Shazad [Phoenix], Diarmaid Tucker [Pembroke], N. Muhammad [R&SPU], K. Rehman [Rush]
• 30 – S. Murphy [YMCA], P. Blackley [Laois].

The busiest bowlers, or at least the top ten in terms of overs bowled were:

• 244.4 – P. Flanagan [YMCA]
• 234.2 – M. Singh [Greystones]
• 226.0 – Fiachra Tucker [Pembroke]
• 223.0 – Simon Rice [Greystones]
• 217.4 – Conor Gibbons [Malahide]
• 213.1 – M. Jacob [Swords]
• 189.3 – Adam Ellison [Rush]
• 186.1 – I. Smillie [Clontarf]
• 183.4 – R. Sullivan [Clontarf]
• 182.0 – R. Staunton [North County]

Points per game is another category that can be dominated by players with few appearances. The top ten in 2013 were as follows, and the number of games played is also shown:

• 207.00 – B. Thambi (1 game) [Castleknock]
• 130.00 - G. Conway (1) [Bell’s Academy]
• 116.00 – J. McKenna (1) [The Hills]
• 114.00 – Z. Azher (1) [Dublin University]
• 112.50 – J. Quinlan (2) [Merrion]
• 106.50 – I. Cox (2) [Walnut]
• 106.00 – J. Conway (1) [Bell’s Academy]
• 104.48 – Pat Collins (21) [R&SPU]
• 102.28 – Lynal Jansen (18) [Rush]
• 101.00 – Anto Coates (18) [Ring Commons]

92 players took more wickets than they scored runs. The top ten (and ties) in this less relevant category were:

• 34 – Conor Gibbons [Malahide] [44 wickets and 10 runs]
• 16 – Z. Khuda Buksh [R&SPU]
• 15 – R. Nicoll [R&SPU]
• 14 – David Poff [Pembroke]
• 13 – William Clarke [Phoenix], Justin Doherty [Pembroke]
• 12 – Rex Walsh [Merrion], W. Gunnell [Dublin University]
• 9 – Anto Burke [Sandyford], Robert Bridge [Merrion], N. Carroll [Leinster]

32 players managed to take more catches than they scored runs. Top nine were:

• 6 more catches than runs scored – C. Diviney [R&SPU]
• 3 – R. Nicoll [R&SPU], M. Campbell [Wexford Wanderers]
• 2 – Mick Dwyer [The Hills], S. Tyagi [Knockharley], R. O’Keeffe [Terenure Titans], R. Byrne [Walnut}, J. McAlerney [Balbriggan], Y. Jarwal [Lucan]

110 players appeared in only one game and did not “trouble the scorers” batting, bowling or with catches or stumpings. A further 274 players also appeared in just one game and did manage to “trouble the scorers”.  However, these 384 players should be encouraged to play more in years to come.

70 player did bat and were never dismissed. Most did so but once, although P. Ryan [Clontarf] did so thrice and five players did so twice, P. Wilkinson [Greystones], P. Wall [Adamstown], J. Gray [Dublin University], K. Thompson [YMCA] and E. Connolly [R&SPU].

So that is that for 2013. If you want the figures for Leinster cricket to delve through, then do not hesitate to ask craig@cricket.ie. You may wish to see the figures for your own club or just your own statistics. All are available.

In the coming weeks the statistics for each Division will be looked at and a MVP for each Division announced. No prizes for guessing that Eddie Richardson and Pat Collins will top the Division 1 listing, but we will be starting at Division 14 and working our way up the leagues. I hope you continue to read the ranting and scribbles and that they enlighten a dull winter’s day and maybe even provoke some discussion and or debate.