Who played the most OC matches, and why so many?

Comments have been pouring into the website all week (well maybe trickling), as to why many of the players listed in some of the stats on the site have played so many games?

Firstly to put to bed one errant figure that has been quoted on the web this week - at the end of the season 2040 players had represented their clubs in the Open Competitions. Now, back to the job in hand.

With each team only playing a maximum of 14 league games, and even allowing for a cup final and some 20 over games, even then players should only be playing 20 matches. Those playing the most matches (25 or over) this season, are listed below.

The answer to playing so many matches is of course the LCU's starring system, which allows one player in a higher team to play for a lower team (or two players when the team is in Division 8 or below). This means that some players can play many more games than others, if they so choose

Some clubs decide to go down this route, using the starrings to their advantage by letting those players who can play multiple games every weekend, play. Other clubs try to go down the route of giving all their members as many games as possible

A simple standard deviation calculation of the number of matches each player in each club played illustrates which path each club went down. I've ignored those clubs that didn't play a full season, and those clubs who only field one team. Clubs at the top of the list tend to give some players many more matches at the expense of others, whilst those at the bottom of the list aim to give all the players in their club an equal chance of playing