Princes of the Square
In our last article we looked at the players who would top a fantasy table based on their performances over the period 2011 to 2013, or to put it another way, in the electronic era, so far. We also included the players who have made the most appearances, playing week-in, week out, to satisfy their craving for cricket. This next article now will focus on the performances over the same period by the batsmen of the province.
Batting is undoubtedly an easier proposition now than in years gone by. Bowlers are limited in the amount of overs they can deliver and captains now have to fill teams with more bowlers than may have been the case in the past. Gone are the days where three bowlers would suffice and sometimes the third bowler did not get a look in.
With advances in agriculture, advice and equipment, wickets being produced today are better and with more consistency in bounce and pace. Bats themselves have transforms from wands of willow into monsters of mash. 3lb bats are now the norm and whilst the height and width is limited the depth of modern bats continues to grow. The shots being played are changing too. A late cut is more likely to mean the sandwiches were made behind schedule than a delicate shot to third man. Where once the deft touch was sufficient, now the baseball swing is causing the amount of sixes crashed across the grounds of Leinster, and one suspects worldwide, grows larger and larger. T20 has also played its part in making players realise that any total (Greystones v Balbriggan this season may have been an exception, but you can read about that in the Division 7 review and comments thereafter) can be chased down and a run rate of excess of a run-a-ball is no longer exceptional.
Whilst not entirely to Sir Geoffrey’s liking, upgrades in covers are seen across the province. Roll on covers are not longer the preserve of international grounds and one wonders how long it will be before the hover-cover makes its first appearance on an Irish ground. The old tarpaulin covers which were dragged across fields are starting to disappear as is the skill is moving one covered with water without dropping it all on the wicket. Sightscreens abound across the province instead of being an aspiration and even grass seed has moved on. New technology has certainly not stopped at the scorers table. Even at the lower leagues the proliferation of artificial pitches provides reliability in bounce and pace only dreamt of by batsmen of years gone by. There are, of course, still pitches with room for improvement and everyone has their favourite candidates for that category, but overall matters have improved and tilted the balance in the battle between bat and ball closer to the bat. The addition of these artificial wickets has also enabled a lot more coaching to take place, giving the younger generation solid techniques, which can be applied each game.
Talking about youth, as in other sports youth is the future of our game and everything method which encourages them should be used. We, the non-youth of the province, are merely the current guardians of the game: in our clubs, in our province, in our country. There is no point in looking back 30 years from now and wondering where the game has gone. It should be vibrant and relevant and hopefully a possible career for Irish players in Ireland. Test status is the concern of Cricket Ireland, but it must also be sustained and this can only be done by the current generation of grass-roots planning, preparing and putting actions to ideas.
Anyhow with the lengthy introductory rant done we can concentrate on the statistics of years done rather than looking forward to the future.
In the past three years only four players have scored over 2,000 runs in total, which just can show how bad the summers of 2011 and 2012 must have been, weather-wise. 114 batsmen have scored in excess of 1,000 runs, but I won’t be naming them all here. This list is only the top run scorers regardless of games played or averages, or innings. The top twenty-five run scorers for the three year period in question are as follows:
1st. 2,191 – A. Mathew [Dundrum]
2nd 2,018 – Tom Fisher [Terenure]
3rd. 2,015 – Lynal Jansen [Rush] [D.2 MVP 2013]
287 players have not registered a run in the previous three years. Of these, 99 did not even make it to the middle, meaning that 188 had an opportunity but failed to break their ducks. However 16 of these players were undefeated and unbowed, but run out of partners or ran out of overs or even saw their team home.
331 centuries were scored in Leinster league and cup cricket, and again in what is a reflection on the wet and dismal summers of 2011 and 2012, 156 of them were scored in 2013. Below is the list of players who have scored at least three centuries:
A further 8 players found themselves on 99, with 5 of the 8 getting out and the other three remaining not out, but stymied either by reaching a target or running out of deliveries. These unfortunate 8 were: 99 Not out – MT Raza [R&SPU]; I. Cox [Walnut Taverners] and Sid Gupta [Pembroke] and 99 Out – James Redmond [Wexford Wanderers]; M. Fayyaz Sayyam [Civil Service]; T. Wardrop [Halverstown]; S. Kumar [Cabinteely] and; K. Taylor [Leinster].
2,733 half centuries have been scored by 1,011 different players. Top of the list with an impressive 16 is K. Khan [R&SPU], a clear two ahead of the pack. This list below shows the players who scored 9 or more. A. Mathew [Dundrum] holds the unwanted record of most 50’s without a single century – 12, one more than Stephen J.P. Moreton [Leinster].
16 – K. Khan [R&SPU]
14 – Tom Fisher [Terenure]; John Anderson [Merrion]; and Brian Gilmore [Malahide] [D.5 MVP 2013].
13 – Andrew Poynter [Clontarf]
12 – A. Mathew [Dundrum]
11 – Stephen J. P. Moreton [Leinster]
10 – J. Magee [The Hills]; J. Singh [Laois]; A. Nazir [R&SPU]; R. Meraj [Laois]; S. Iqbal [Rush]; and U. Siraj [R&SPU].
9 – P. Byrne [R&SPU]; Simmi Singh [YMCA]; Theo Lawson [Pembroke]; MT Raza [R&SPU]; Joji Mathew [Dundrum]; R. Strydom [YMCA]; Conor Armstrong [North County]; Matt Sorenson [The Hills]; John Mooney [North County]; T. Islam [Laois] and; A. Hafiz [R&SPU].
8 – 20 players
7 – 28 players
6 – 40 players
5 – 56 players
4 – 87 players
3 – 137 players
2 – 226 players
1 – 393 players
With regard to batting averages, similarly to the divisional articles previously published there are two tables. One table shows the statistically correct, but irrelevant, although not to the players concerned and the other includes a minimum number of runs. Deciding on the figure of runs required is completely arbitrary and totally within the control of the author.
38 players have managed to average above 50, although most have done so with a minimum of innings, or with many not outs. Here we show the three players who have achieved an average in excess of 100.
138.00 – Alan Harper [Balbriggan] (3 innings, 2 not out)
117.00 – B. Thambi [Castleknock] (1 innings)
100.00 – Ciaran McGuire [Rush] (2 innings, 1 not out)
73 other players also have managed the technically superior average of infinity, having scored runs, but never being dismissed.
When a minimum runs scored criteria is included the top of the averages unsurprisingly changes dramatically. The number of runs that have to be scored to be included here has not been scientifically calculated but just a figure plucked from the air. Hence a qualification of 750 runs was selected, or an average of 250 per season. This figure means that 258 batsmen are eligible and just 5 batsmen achieved an average of over 50. The list below shows all batsmen who have scored over 750 runs and averaged over 40 for the period 2011 – 2013.
1st.58.50 – Andrew Balbirnie [Pembroke]
5e. 50.38 – Lynal Jansen [Rush] [D.2 MVP 2013]
When it comes to the highest number of not outs, there is one man who stands head and shoulders above the pack. With 28 not outs in 47 innings over 88 games, Conor Gibbons [Malahide] is 25% ahead of any one else.
28 - Conor Gibbons [Malahide]
22 – K. Ali [North County]
21 – Marty Block [Leinster] and Bill Whaley [Pembroke]
20 – C. Burke [Rush] and A. Kamal [Malahide]
19 – C. Mackey [North County]
18 – Craig Senior [Pembroke]; Kamal Merchant [YMCA]; William Clarke [Phoenix]; R. Jaffer [Mullingar]; and Howard Askew [Malahide]
89 batsmen have managed to remain undefeated at the crease with the number of innings being matched by the number of not outs. P. Wilkinson [Greystones] leads this category with three innings. Two Pembroke players, Bill Whaley and Justin Doherty have managed to produce not out percentages of over 67% whilst batting over twenty times.
Highest scores are topped by Robin Kelly [Pembroke] who had his miracle innings playing in Division 2, but just as importantly one feels, within the close confines of Rush in 2012. His innings was sufficient to see him selected for the Ireland U19 World Cup squad. Anto Coates on the other hand scored his knock in lower divisions, but still a double century in very limited overs can not be ignored and shows Anto’s talent may be being utilised at a lower division than it deserves. All batsmen are limited to one highest score and everyone who has reached 150 is included below:
219 – Robin Kelly [Pembroke]
203 – Anto Coates [Ring Commons] [D.10 MVP 2013]
199 – R. Meraj [Laois]
196 – S. Saharan [Merrion]
195 – M. Ahmed [Phoenix]
194 – M. Siddique [Civil Service] [D.4 MVP 2013]
170 – Andre Botha [Clontarf] & B. Ackland [Merrion]
168* - H. Pike [Dublin University]
168 – J. Quinlan [Merrion]
165* - V. Gopal [Clontarf]
162 – Lynal Jansen [Rush] [D.2 MVP 2013]
160* - N. Kenny [Merrion]
160 – Tayyab Rashid [Knockharley]
159* - Colm Reilly [Balbriggan]
158* - M. Quirke [YMCA]
158 – Bill Coghlan [Clontarf]
157 – M. Gregg [Phoenix]
155* - Kenny Carroll [R&SPU] & R. Lawrence [Terenure]
154* - Jeff Short [Merrion]
152 – I. Walshe [North Kildare] & A. Shehabeddin [Malahide]
151* - Tom Fisher [Terenure]
151 – O. Saleem [Knockharley]
150* - Danny Barclay [Pembroke]
150 – S. Shazad [Civil Service] & R. Strydom [YMCA]
That concludes our look at the batting side over the past three years. In the final instalment the bowlers, fielders and even the wicket-keepers will come under numerical scrutiny.
Disclaimer….
As with all of these articles, the views expressed therein of those of the author and him alone. They definitely do not represent those of the Leinster Cricket Union, the author’s club or any living or undead amongst us. Any feedback or requests for individual, team, Club or all-encompassing statistics may be sent to craig@cricket.ie.