2014 Season Review - Division 7

How the league was won - Our league preview back in March predicted the top of the league in a pretty accurate manner (although not neccessarily in the right order - http://www.cricketleinster.ie/news/division-7-preview-another-merrion-title). It was Adamstown who exceeded our expectations most though. Not too many teams succeed with successive promotions, and for that reason, we thought the Corkagh Park club may just miss out. We were wrong, and they romped to the Division 7 title. The two matches that they played against runners-up Laois were the close (a tie and a 3 wicket win), with Clontarf 4 being the only team to come out on top against Adamstown. In fact, after that Clontarf loss, they won their next seven matches by margins of 8 wickets, 7 wickets, 8 wickets, 8 wickets, 174 runs, 239 runs and 143 runs! Not that many batsmen were needed regularly, but the big three were Harpreet Singh, Haseeb Khan and Aman Yadav. Varun Walis topped the bowling, but any of ten bowlers could have performed well at this level.

Laois 2 didn't get round to playing Balbriggan away or Wexford at home, and coupled with a narrow one wicket loss to Merrion in September, they should really have won the league. Only three bowlers got past the ten wicket milestone, Mohammed Sheraz, Usama Raees and Kamran Sabrie, but there was plenty of strength in depth in the batting with that man Osama Raees scoring nearly twice as many runs as anyone else. Laois' good season is slightly tempered by the fact that they requested to be demoted from Division 5 to Division 7. Division 6 may have been a better bet!

Merrion 5 were our tip for the Division 7 title, and in that respect they failed. It shouldn't be forgotten that they are playing at a higher level than any other 5th team. Their batting was the main problem, with no one scoring over 100 runs at an average of over 25, and their bowling had a similar precarious existence. Only Garin Howell and Daniel Paul got 10 wickets. It may be asked that if no one get runs or wickets, how did Merrion finish third? Well, their one wicket win over Laois sums up their season well. Bowling first, they dismissed Laois for 156, with Garin Howell taking four wickets, and no one else taking more than two. In reply, scraped home, with no one scoring more than Andrew Kay's 29. A typically pugnacious performance, and good enough for 3rd.

On August 29th, Clontarf had a 6-1 record with five matches still to play, and the league title in their grasp. They managed to lose four of those five matches, and had to make do with fourth place, with the consolation of being the third best 4th team in the province. Five bowlers took ten wickets without any of them dominating. Only three batsmen passed 100 runs, but those three capitalised. Daniel Gargan scored 174 at 34.8, Sean Currie 222 at 88.47 and Andrew Vincent  333 at 47.57. When they were missing, runs dried up.

Dundrum 2 finished only two wins away from Adamstown, but for them it was a disappointing season (alveit a fifth place that we predicted). The South Dublin team started well, but from July onwards could only muster four wins from their last nine matches. Their batting line up delivered. Four passed 200 runs, with skipper Jinto Mathew topping the list with 357 at 32.45. Worryingly (for Dundrum if not their opponents), only three bowlers took more than five wickets. Mathew was on top again with 20 at 16.70 and the old warhorse Renjith Nair with 16 at 8.94

How dreams turned to nightmares - The bottom four on the division were well of the pace of the leaders. However with Dublin University 2 and Balbriggan 2 also being well adrift, there wasn't too much excitement to be had.

Following spring/summer work on their ground, Wexford Wanderers had to play their first six matches away from home, winning one and losing three (with rain accounting for the others). Once back on home soil they had some decent wins, whilst lacking consistency (and whilst not being able to arrange dates to host Balbriggan and travel to Laois). Only three topped 100 runs - Sharjeel Sheikh leading with 309 at 34.33. The bowling was positively venomous, with Sharjeel, Paul Craft and Alan Murphy combining to take 60 wickets at an average of 8.5

Pembroke 4 were run away winners of our "Biggest disappointment of Division 7 2014" award. They should have really been challenging at the top, but lost their last seven matches to squander a decent position. The bowling attack was ok, if a little on the expensive side. Of the top five bowlers, only Stephen Roughen went for under four an over. Nine batsmen managed to get a seasonal 100 runs, but only Achmet Carr went on to get 250

After the highs of 2013, Dublin University 2 crashed to a disappointing 2014. They were always going to have a tough time of things, being promoted two divisions, and when early season rain prevented them from completing their league program in June, their fate was clear. Only Kevin O'Connor and Amit Chaturvedi chalked up 100 runs from the scheduled eight games. Chaturvedi also took 11 wickets at 15.09 but didn't go on to play 1st team cricket.

That just leaves Balbriggan 2 who had a wretched time of it. They didn't get round to playing Wexford and Dublin University away or Laois at home, and went winless throughout the season. Quality may not have been a problem, but availability was. The top four batsmen (Adrian Harper, Faheem, Mehdi and Shahzad played no more than eight games each. Cian Nulty provided a ray of light, the 13 year old taking most wickets with 15 at 25.07

Heroes with the willow - Thirteen players in the division managed to get 250 runs, which was a great achievement. Five of those did even better and got them at an average of over 40. Step forward Adrian Harper (Balbriggan - 261 at 52.20), Sean Currie (Clontarf - 222 at 88.67), Aman Yadav (Adamstown - 313 at 62.60), Andrew Vincent (Clontarf - 333 at 47.53) and Harpreet Singh (Adamstown - 419 at 41.90). The most prolific batsman was Usama Raees of Laois with 456 at 38.00. At the begining of the season, the Division 7 career record holder was Anthony Bellew of Knockharley with 830 runs at 27.67. He was just overtaken by Eugene Brennan of Wexford who now has 870 at 31.07. The record for most runs in the season remains Nathan Bueck's 495 runs for Greystones 1 in 2013.

Hell for leather - Six bowlers took over twenty wickets, and the pick of them (as alluded to above) were the bowlers from Wexford. Sharjeel Sheikh took an incredible 23 wickets at 4.96 and Alan Murphy took 20 at 9.40. Murphy gets more plaudits for now being the all time Division 7 leading record taker, with 60 wickets at 15.77, overtaking Mark Ingamells of Knockharley.

Days to remember - Whilst Clontarf 4 were a little bit off the pace of the leading teams, they were the only side to beat Adamstown in the league. In Castle Avenue on June 22nd, Adamstown were bowled out for 225. In reply Cormac Devilly was dismissed for 18 with the score on 45. 14 year old  Andrew Vincent (82*) and 12 year old Sean Currie (111*) then put on 182 for the second wicket to put the champions elect to the sword.

Stat you may have missed -  A stat that had to be included, although unfortunately it involved Clontarf again! Thirteen players took more Division 7 wickets than they scored runs. Leading the way were Sean Devilly and Daire Vickers of Clontarf. They both batted three times all season, with Devilly scoring three runs and taking eight wickets, and Vickers scoring five runs and taking eight wickets

Batting (Qualification - 100 runs)

Bowling (Qualification - 10 wickets)