This week’s column begins with an expression of thanks to those of you who took the time (a) to read last week’s discourse/rant* (*delete where applicable) on overly enthusiastic* (*insert your chosen adverb here) appealing and (b) submit or send feedback. On the positive side for the author, no-one thought there wasn’t enough appealing, but on the negative side, 5 comments out of 1,443 players in Leinster can not really be considered a representative sample.
Last weekend no appeals at all were heard on my field of play. In fact there was very little noise at all. However this was more due to the state of the ground visited than any change in the hearts or minds of the serial appealers of Leinster cricket. Certainly the home side did their best to host the game and even provided hot tea and an early tea. However the amount of rain that fell mainly on the plain was clearly too much for the drainage abilities of the field and no play was at all possible. Just to add, Mother Hubbards on the old N4 in Moyvalley still does a great breakfast and is well worth the turn off the motorway and leaving 30 mins earlier. Nevertheless there was no play and therefore, no appeals. Hopefully the province will see more cricket played this weekend than last.
However some cricket is getting played somewhere and with the start of the midweek cups (although the LCU marketing dept. would probably prefer “T20”) there have been points up for grabs and positions to be gained. It is assumed that league points and cup runs are uppermost in players’ minds, but the fantasy league runs on in the background, counting, adding, judging…
J. Singh, with 621 points, has dislodged P. Peethambaran from top spot. In fact Peem has also been overtaken by R. Wing. The overall point top 10 scorers come from 8 clubs with Castleknock and Malahide the only Clubs with 2 players each.
The player who has taken part in the most games is R. Wing. His 12 matches to date shows commitment to his Club and a lot of luck with the weather. There have only been 11 weekends of this season and a number of them have completely succumbed to the weather, so there must have been some double-headers or midweek games. Next on the list is A. Haider with 9.
With the bat in hand the top scorer of fantasy points is R. Wing. His 353 points with bat is 62% of his overall points. Mr. Wing is also the highest run scorer in Leinster and has already passed 300 for the season. 1,000 runs before the end of May might prove to beyond him and the weather gods, but it looks like a bumper season so far for him.
In terms of averages, 11 players are averaging over 100, led by Ross MacMahon. Ross has only been dismissed once in three innings and his average of 186 is well ahead of his highest score of 86*. I. Mohammed’s solitary score of 160 remains the provinces best and also his average.
K. Ali of North County has the distinction of having batted the most times without being dismissed. Whether this is due to his batting or place in the batting order is not known, but he must be looking to move up the order to add to his 32 runs in four innings.
Adrian Harper and M Farrukh, both from the Balbriggan Club, are the only players to have scored more than one century, whilst 22 others have done so once. P. Byrne [R&SPU], P. Peethambaran [Sandyford], H. Pike [Dublin University], A. Hasmi [Lucan] and T. Affleck [North County] have each scored three half centuries, whilst a further 13 players have managed two half centuries. A further 134 have done it once.
Moving to the bowling side of the statistics, P. Rodgers [Leinster] is by far the hardest working bowler having sent down 62 overs in 7 games. Next on a mere 45 overs is H. Askew [Malahide]. 941 players have bowled with varying degrees of success. Of course this depends on how you measure success. Being able to get out of bed unaided, or put on socks without sitting down first can be a great success, but captains tend to prefer wickets, maidens or runs conceded.
Leading wicket taker is overall leader, J. Singh with 17 wickets. 729 bowlers have at least one victim and so can be considered successful. However, Emmett Whaley [Pembroke] will be rueing the cost of his solitary wicket, 106 runs. A second wicket would greatly improve his average, although rumour has it that he won’t be appearing this weekend for Pembroke’s Second XI.
How Emmett would like to add to his tally with some of this season’s best bowling figures. C. Siddell has found his 7/11 has now been surpassed. 7 for 5 is the new mark to beat. M. Lunson [Phoenix] has taken over at the top and it could be a while before it is beaten. 25 players have managed to take 5 wickets in an innings.
M. Mathai [Swords] has bowled one wicket maiden and with his average of 0.00 is going to hard to beat if he refuses to bowl again this season. D. O’Halloran [Malahide] has more wickets than runs conceded with 3 wickets for only one run, but a run that has his average at 0.33.
687 players have held at least one catch, with or without the aid of gloves, whilst 756 have not. Leading the catches is Sean Rooney [North County] with 10 and only another 6 players have more than 5 catches.
P. Padmanaban [Sandyford] has 4 stumpings out of the 45 given to date. In joint second place is the vice captain of the Irish Women’s team, Mary Waldron [Malahide]. Mary also appears on this week’s The Slog Sweep musing over last week’s visit to England with the Irish team and again it’s a podcast well worth a listen. Mary, together with T. James and S. Safarz has three victims. With two stumpings to their names are a further 5 players.
Here are the tables as they stand. As usual the rider about scorecards not being completed, not being submitted or sent to Paul Reynolds applies. Even if your game is abandoned without a team travelling, Paul needs to know. There is so much work that goes into the organisation of competitive club cricket in Leinster that no-one ever sees. So many forms, facts and figures all to be submitted. And even that is not the end of it. Re-fixes, fixture congestion, cup rounds to be finalised, starring lists to be monitored, the list is, if not actually endless, then damn close to it. Help Paul out and submit all the facts, played or un-played. Please.
Another area you, the reader, can help is by providing fuller names or further information about the players appearing here. Are there any, repeatable, nicknames in use? What is P. Peethambaran’s real first name? Who are new players this season that are announcing themselves onto the Leinster stage? How are the “imports” doing for your Club or for other Clubs? Are Clubs pushing a youth agenda or is it more difficult to get off a team than move through them? Are there any players appearing for one team Clubs in the lower leagues who might gain greater recognition in a higher league?
Overall Points
Matches Played
Runs scored
Averaging over 100
Highest Run Scorers without a dismissal
Most Overs delivered
Leading Wicket Takers
Best Bowling figures
Lowest bowling averages
Most catches
Most stumpings
Well that's it for another week. We look wistfully to the skies and wonder if we will get a game or another afternoon hiding under umbrellas, trees or even in the Clubhouse or Bar....