Review of the Season - RSA Division 9

How the league was won - As with so many other competitions across the 2012 season, the rain had a major impact on Division 9. However, from the lofty position of mid October, it still looks as if the best two teams were promoted. The rain just left a couple of teams wondering what might have happened.

Dundalk 1 found themselves two divisions higher than in 2011, and started the season as they had left off last year. They won the first three matches of the season, but then lost to Dublin University and North County, and it looked as if Dundalk may have found their level for now. Four of their next five matches were rained off (a win over Terenure was the other one) and with September approaching, Dundalk needed to finish well. They beat Civil Service, Terenure (again) and Mullingar to stand top of the league.

Adamstown chased them all the way, but will regret losing to Dundalk on May 5th. Between that loss and August 4th, they were unbeaten, and led the table. However a two wicket defeat to North County meant they were destined for the runners-up spot. The ten wicket victory for Dundalk against Adamstown in May - their only meeting meant that Dundalk's title seemed deserved.

 

How dreams turned to nightmares -  Dublin University 2 only played a seven match season in Divsion 9, and the truncated season changed the dynamic of Division 9. When the students finished their league program on June 30th, they had 32.28%, and that was the target for Terenure and YMCA to try and beat. However both failed, despite having  seasons that were mirror images of each other.

Terenure lost their first nine matches (before beating YMCA on August 4th), whilst YMCA won two of their first four games (including a three wicket win over Terenure), before losing the rest of their games. League re-organisation though has meant that neither team was to be relegated.

Heroes with the willow - Division 9 experienced something of a run glut, with seven batsmen scored over 200 runs, and all deserve a mention in a season in which runs were hard to come by. The seven were Mohammed Saqi of North County (358 runs @ 39.78), Varun Walia (Adamstown) - 302 @ 50.33, Kamil Mahajan (Adamstown) - 289 @ 32.11, Andy Williams (Dundalk) - 239 @ 59.75, Derek Dockrell (YMCA) - 239 @ 45.80, Daniel Hogan (Terenure) - 211 @ 23.44, and  Sammy Murphy (Mullingar) - 201 @ 67.00. All good performaces. Walia, Mahajan and Williams will get their chance to display their talents in Division 8 next year.

 

Hell for leather - As with most leagues, two players stood above all others. Both have already been mentioned, and both were instrumental in gaining promotion for their respective clubs. Andrew Williams of Dundalk added 24 wickets to his runs (24 at 8.04) and Varun Walis took 27 wickets at 6.74. Little more needs to be said, although neither were one man teams. Ahsan Shah of Dundalk also took 21 wickets at 7.10 and Vikram Uppalapati of Adamstown took 13 wickets at 12.00

Days to remember - It's difficult to get away from Dundalk and Adamstown, so the day to remember is another low scoring match that will be remembered fondly in Louth, if not elsewhere, It was the shortest game in Division 9 this year, when Adamstown were bowled out for 39 in only 16.5 overs. Dundalk knocked off the runs in 72 balls without losing a wicket. In defence of Adamstown though, it should be said that sides were disissed for 113 or less ten times this season whilst playing in Dundalk

Stat you may have missed - Five Division 9 players took more wickets than they scored runs. Only one player though took three times as many wickets as he scored runs. Step forward Rasallat Jaffer of Mullingar. For the record he scored three runs all season (you can do the sums!)

Batting (Qualification - 100 runs)

Bowling (Qualification - 10 wkts)