Division 10 review - Part 2

Division 10 stats

Leading all time run scorer (2011-2015) - Anto Coates (Ringcommons) - 871 runs @ 48.39
Most runs in a Division 10 season - Anto Coates (Ringcommons) - 600 runs (2013)
Highest score - Peter Auret - 184 - Slieve Bloom 1 vs Terenure 3 - Terenure - 16 May 2015
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2015) - Nick Jagoe (Railway Union) - 55 wkts @ 13.25
Most wickets in a Division 10 season - Anto Coates (Ringcommons) - 29 wkts (2013)
Best bowling - Sandeep Sood - 9-15 - Civil Service 3 vs Malahide 5 - Civil Service - 3 July 2011
Most matches - Sean Smith (Pembroke) - 37 - (2011-2014)

Highest team score - 355-3 - YMCA 4 vs North Kildare 3 - Claremont Road - 27 Aug 2011
Lowest team score - 38 all out - Pembroke 5 vs Railway Union 5 - Sydney Parade - 4 Aug 2013

Review

Dundalk 1 - Champions - (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 154 - Bowling Rating 122 - Overall Rating 276

A fairly convincing campaign from Dundalk, who lost only twice. They may well have had a couple of regrets - the only time they played runners-up Swords, Swords prevailed by two wickets. The other slight asterisk against the win, is that the lowest that Dundalk have finished since they entered the league in 2011. However, a club can only beat what is put in front of them, and the club won their third trophy, the Division 10 cup going with that of the Division 9 and 11 trophies in 2012 and 2011 respectively. Batting was Dundalk's strength, with their record chasing being much better than when they took first use of the pitch. They batted first, winning four, but three of those were by the smallest of margins - six runs twice, and seventeen runs the other. It was chasing where they really showed their class, only failing once in seven attempts. The batting was the strongest in the division, with an incredible four batsmen passing 200 runs - Sajan Jayaseelan topped the list with 353 at 50.43, Andrew Pike was next with 269 at 29.89; then Steve McGrath with 257 at 51.40, and finally Phil Osborn with 226 at 75.33. The bowling wasn't quite as impressive (although still second best in the division!) - although four bowlers passed 10 wickets, none was better than Kevin Waterman's 13 at 15.31.

Swords 1- Runners up - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 119 - Bowling Rating 159 - Overall Rating 268

The best bowling attack in the division blew some teams away (seven teams were bowled out for under 120), but ultimately the title may have come down to the three no results - as opposed to Dundalk's one. The one time they met the champions, Swords won in a nail biting encounter by 2 wickets, with the 9th wicket pair of Guru Muralidhar and Jackson Santhosh adding the 27 required runs (breaking the 9th wicket partnership record for Swords against Dundalk). But two early season defeats (to Railway Union and Slieve Bloom) meant that the title was not to be, and Swords 1 are still without silverware in their four year existence. The bowling was shared around, with ten bowlers bowling more than 25 overs (as opposed to eight for Dundalk). Three took more than the ten wickets, and crucially the worst of those three was Manoj Jacob with 11 at 13.91. Manoj Nandanan took 10 at 11.80, with the star being Abhin Jacob, with 11 wickets at 5.91. The batting wasn't quite as dramatic - Sunil Thomas led the way with 276 at 39.53, with Ebin Paiva hitting 213 at 42.60.

Slieve Bloom 1 - 3rd - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 101 - Bowling Rating 97 - Overall Rating 198

Slieve Bloom were predicted to come third; they came third; and in the process finished in their highest league spot since entering the league in 2013 - 75th. Their batting was slightly the stronger of the two main disciplines, with three players passing the 200 mark. A more important milestone was also reached this year, as two Slieve Bloom players were the first to pass 1000 runs for the club. Peter Auret only needed 22, which he got (and then some) when he opened the season with 184* against Terenure on May 16th. He finished the season with 457 runs at 41.55. The second player to reach the 1000 run mark was Jameel Ahmad, who got to the mark on June 27th. He scored 205 runs this year (at 25.62), taking his career Slieve Bloom tally to 1159 runs at 46.36. The other player to contribute with the bat in 2015 was Waqas Kahlid who scored 217 at 24.11. Slieve Bloom went through a sticky patch in late July/early August, losing four on the trot, and it was those few weeks that were the difference between the title and a solid third spot. The top bowler was Shahzad Mirza, who took 13 wickets at 18.46. Crucially they lacked bowlers taking lots of wickets at under 12.

Railway Union 5 - 4th - (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 92 - Bowling Rating 119 - Overall Rating 211

It was a disappointing year for many of Railway's sides, but the 5ths did the club proud, finishing 4th (against a predicted 5th) - the team's highest ever league placing (76th). The success was built on the back of their bowling - and two bowlers in particular, Ifti Sabir and Nic Jagoe. Sabir had his best season for Railway since joining from Leinster in 2013 - taking 19 wickets at 13.26. Jagoe is a Railway legend - the leading wicket taker for Railway in the period for which we have full records (since 2011) with 147 wickets at 14.44, he is one of only two Railway players with a 1000 run/100 wicket double (Mohammed Farooq is the other), and one of only 53 across the province. With Eoghan Grehan adding 10 wickets at 17.80, it was a potent attack, which made up for the lack in runs with the bat - no one passed 200 runs!

Leinster 5 - 5th - (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 111 - Bowling Rating 87 - Overall Rating 198

Leinster experienced a really disjointed season, never playing more than three matches before was called off for one reason or another. But although that could excuse a slightly disappointing for Leinster 5, it can't hide the fact that the team has fallen down the league structure every year since 2011 - 58th in 2011, their 5th place in Division 10 this year equates to 77th. A further handicap was the 38 players who played for the team - the highest we have come across in our reviews so far. Batting was the team's stronger suit (although only the chase of 170 against Slieve Bloom would be classed as an outstanding performance), but yet no one passed 200 runs. The bowling was a tiny bit better - Khaild Chaudhary took 10 wickets at 12.80 and Somasekhar Rapolu 11 at 21. Not really a season to remember.

Terenure 3 - 6th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 73 - Bowling Rating 79 - Overall Rating 152

The bottom half of Division 10 was a bit of a dogfight, with each of the four teams battling to see who was the "least worst". Terenure 3 succeeded in that respect, winning three games to lift themselves clear of the bottom two. Sid Nair was crucial with bat and ball - scoring 240 runs at 21.82 and 11 wickets at 14.36 (one of only four players to complete the double in Division 10 this year). Philip Rout was top wicket taker with 13 at 15.69 (he also added 146 runs). APart from those two, not too much to write home about, and like Leinster 5, Terenure 3 finished in their lowest league position since 2011. Not a great year for the Dublin 6 teams in Division 10!

Longford 2 - 7th (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 78 - Bowling Rating 75 - Overall Rating 153

The third of the three teams with three wins, Longford 2 will look back on their second season of league cricket with some satisfaction. The team finished seven places higher than in 2014, and has to be happy with that. The highlight of the season must surely be the victory in the second Battle of the Midlands, over-coming Slieve Bloom by 2 wickets, after a fine all round display by Adnan Sarfraz (5-32 and 36*). Overall though, the team lacked "stars", no batsman passed that 200 run mark, and the leading wicket taker was Ashir Javed's 11 wickets at 23.27

Ringcommons 1- 8th (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 93 - Bowling Rating 82 - Overall Rating 175

A tough year for Ringcommons, who finished bottom after only winning two matches. They would probably have finished higher but for their win against Leinster being removed from the records. Their batting was ranked 5th best in the division, largely due to the talents of ex-Ireland player Declan Moore, who scored a very impressive 471 runs at 67.29 (which is still somewhat short of teammate Anto Coates' Division 10 record of 600 runs in the 2013 season). Coates had another solid year with 271 runs at 45.17, but for all their class, the pair couldn't carry the team on their own. Ciaran Murtagh (12 at 21.08) and Daryl White (10 at 27.40) were leading wicket takers, but with little penetration in the attack, wins were always going to be difficult to achieve.

Division 10 batting averages 2015 (Qualification 100 runs)

Division 10 Bowling averages 2015 (Qualification 6 wickets)