Division 12 review - Part 2

Division 12 stats

Leading all time run scorer (2011-2015) - Trevor Wardrop (Halverstown) - 668 runs @ 31.81
Most runs in a Division 12 season - Manoj Jacob (Swords) - 415 runs (2013)
Highest score - Senthil Kumar - 115 - Ballyeighan 1 vs Merrion 7 - Bird Avenue - 24 July 2011
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2015) - Neville Case (Halverstown) - 58 wkts @ 15.09
Most wickets in a Division 12 season - Azhar Abdullah (Cabinteely) - 26 wkts (2015)
Best bowling - Ivan Morgan - 7-36 - Railway Union 6 vs Adamstown 3 - Park Avenue - 31 Aug 2014

Most matches - Stephen Moore (Phoenix) - 43 - (2011-2014)

Highest team score - 333-9 - Adamstown 3 vs Dublin University 3 - Corkagh Park - 27 July 2014
Lowest team score - 12 all out - Merrion 7 vs Malahide 5 - Malahide - 15 Aug 2015

Review

Adamstown 3 - Champions - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 141 - Bowling Rating 148 - Overall Rating 289
The 2014 Division 12 champions followed that title up with the 2015 version as well. We predicted they would come top and their rating suggests they were deservedly top. The only question mark against their title was the fact that The Hills 4 pushed them all the way, and the two matches between the teams were shared. The batting and bowling was the strongest in the division, although the batting especially was not populated by stars. Only Usman Shahid scored more than 200 runs (227 at 56.75) but another four passed 100. The bowling was well led by Shazid Rahim who took 21 wickets at 12.62 - the third highest total in the division. In the three years of their existence Adamstown 3 have improved from 111th to 89 the league. Next year they will be looking to overtake Civil Service 3 and Terenure 3, to become the 10th best 3rd team in the province.

The Hills 4- Runners up - (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 134 - Bowling Rating 128 - Overall Rating 262

After four years of slipping down the league tables, The Hills 4 finally stopped the rot this year, revealing a couple of exciting stars of the future, and a surge back up the leagues. Harry Archer only played six matches in the league, but scored two centuries (the second and third highest scores in Division 12 since it started in 2011), totalling 276 at an average of 92. That early season boost set the team up well, and three others also passed 200 runs - Paul Butler (230 at 57.50), Thomas Murphy (226 at 75.33) and another player for the future, Ryan Tobin (273 at 30.33). The bowling was led by the trident like attack of Keiron Phillips (23 at 11.30), Heinrick Walser (19 at 17.79) and Mahaboob Muhammad (21 at 13.29).

Cabinteely 1 - 3rd - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 104 - Bowling Rating 107 - Overall Rating 211

A slight slip of two places from the 82nd place in 2013 and 2014, but considering all that was thrown at them, that is no bad thing. The destruction of the ground last spring caused massive upheaval, with the club finding a temporary home in St Andrew's College. Despite that handicap, they still came through the season well, and Azhar Abdullah broke the record for most wickets in a Division 12 season with 26. Abdullah had a fine season, and added to his 26 wickets with 298 runs at 29.8. Vikalp Jain also had a fine season with the ball, taking 19 wickets at 11.63, as did Hareesh Singaraju, who had 16 at 17.06. In what was a real team effort, two other batsmen, Bibin Varghese and Talat Manzoor Khan also passed 200 runs. Satish Kumar didn't have a great season by his standards, but when passed 66 against North County 5 on August 8th, he became the first Cabinteely batsman to pass 1000 runs in Cricket Leinster competitions.

Merrion 7 - 4th - (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 102 - Bowling Rating 96 - Overall Rating 198

Merrion 7 stuck the proverbial two fingers up at any doubters out there (such as our Division 12 preview), but achieving a good bit more than the 8th place that we predicted. On the night of July 11th, it was looking much better than even that 4rh place may have suggested. At that stage they were sitting at 6-1, and in the upper reaches of the table. After that, something went wrong though, and they lost four of the next five. It wouldn't be fair to anyone (apart from probably Merrion themselves), to explore the amazing events of the weekend of August 15th. Eleven good men of Merrion travelled to Malahide, lost the toss, and 64 balls later, the match was over. David O'Halloran took 5-3 and Howard Askew 5-6, as Merrion were dismissed for 12, the lowest score recorded in the Open Competitions since full records began in 2011. Malahide quickly knocked off the runs in 3.1 overs. The amazing part was yet to come. The following day, Merrion played Cabinteely in the final of the Minor Cup, with seven of Saturday's team taking the field. One of the new four players was Karthik Neela, and his 49 and 5-15 saw an amazing turn around in less than 24 hours. The league season as a whole would have been much better, but no player really contributed a decent season with bat nor ball. Nine batsmen scored 100 runs, but no one passed 200. Only Neela passed 10 wickets with the ball.

North County 5 - 5th - (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 105 - Bowling Rating 67 - Overall Rating 172

There was nothing wrong with North County's batting - the third best in the division by our reckoning. Foram Mehta (312 runs at 31.2, and now only 10 away from 1000 runs for North County 5), and Zia Mohyuddin (331 at 33.1) made sure that there was always a total there to defend - after a dodgy start to the season, they made at least 150 in every innings from mid July on). But the bowling was a different matter, and was rated as the worst in the division. County only managed to take ten wickets on two occasions, and even then it was bowling teams out for 189 (Malahide) and 204 (Merrion). Muhammed Shahid took 12 wickets at 17.50, but there wasn't too much support. The second half of the season meant that they were solidly mid table as opposed to towards the bottom. Four of the last five matches were won.

Malahide 5 - 6th (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 87 - Bowling Rating 100 - Overall Rating 187

A catastrophic first two thirds of the season which saw Malahide 5 win only one of the first nine matches. It meant a continuation of the slide that has seen the team slip from 76th in the league in 2012, to the current placing of 94th. The bowling, an area that seems to be traditionally strong on the lower Malahide teams, delivered again, with five bowlers passing ten wickets. Alex Davies led with 17 wickets at 15.71, ably assisted by Howard Askew (16 at 10.31) and Ryan Condron (also 16, at 18.44). The youth of Condron and Davies will provide the slightly less youthful Askew with a bit of rest in the future. The batting was less impressive, with 308 at 44 from Dave O'Halloran the only major contribution. (NB. See comment from Malahide at the bottom of this article)

Halverstown 1 - 7th (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 86 - Bowling Rating 94 - Overall Rating 180

An improvement of one place on 2014, and any improvement should never be dismissed. But it was a hard season with only three wins, being spread across the year. The batting was amongst the weakest in the division, with Michael Neville being the only one passing 200 (208 at 41.60). Another three played passed 150 runs, but it was the lack of another big scoring batsman that was the difference. The bowlers performed admirably, with Neville Case (20 at 11.25) and John Threadgold (14 at 18.71) leading the way. The team missed the guile of Stuart Gallagher though - he only played four matches.

Leinster 6 - 8th (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 69 - Bowling Rating 75 - Overall Rating 144

A tough old year for Leinster 6. Three places worse then 2014, but three places better than 2013. Leinster used the side to try to introduce more youth players, and they often found the going tough. Fionn O'Sullivan shone through - scoring 198 runs at 28.29 and 9 wickets at 14.33. No one else got as close to the 10 wicket or 200 run mark.

Division 12 batting averages 2015 (Qualification 100 runs)

Division 12 Bowling averages 2015 (Qualification 6 wickets)