Division 2 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2016) - Lynal Jansen (Rush) - 2952 runs @ 47.61
Most runs in a Division 2 season - Lynal Jansen (Rush) - 911 runs (2013)
Highest score - Robin Kelly - 219 - Pembroke 1 vs Rush 1 - Kenure - 5 June 2012
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2016) - Lynal Jansen (Rush) - 103 wkts @ 19.70
Most wickets in a Division 2 season - Stephanus Grobler (Cork County) - 31 wkts (2016)
Best bowling - Malcolm Byrne - 7-16 - The Hills 2 vs Old Belvedere 1 - The Vineyard - 22 May 2011
Most matches - Shahid Iqbal (Rush) - 74 - (2011-2016)
Highest team score - 412-6 - Pembroke 1 vs Rush 1 - Kenure - 5 June 2012
Lowest team score - 49 all out - North Kildare 1 vs Dublin University 1 - The Maws - 1 May 2012
Team of the Year (in batting order) - Stephen Doheny (Rush), James Warsop (Balbriggan), Lorcan Tucker (Dublin University), Stephanus Grobler (Cork County), Muhammad Farrukh (Babriggan), Joe Carroll (Leinster), Gareth Delany (Leinster), Morne Bauer (Cork County), George Dockrell (Leinster/Dublin University), Syed Ali Aijaz Shah (Terenure), Matthew Petrie (Dublin University)
Review
NB - The recognised career stats for Leinster Division 1 and 2 cricket are "Senior" runs and wickets (league and Leinster Senior Cup). These are currently in the process of being transferred to Sportstatz. In the meantime, career stats are only available for the period 2011-2016.
Runs per wicket for all teams - 21.83 Runs per over for all teams - 4.52
Cork County 1- Champions - (Predicted 4th) - Batting Rating 120 - Bowling Rating 122 - RpO for 4.64 - RpO against 4.27
By mid-June, Cork County 1 were in spot of bother after losing to Dublin University, Leinster and Malahide in their first four matches. There was only one way they could win the league after that start, and that was by winning their remaining nine matches - a task that was achieved in an amazing late season run. It was Cork County's second league title in Leinster, to go with their 2013 Division 3 crown. Most of the games on that run in were healthy victories, although the nerves must have been frayed on the last game of all, when chasing 135 against Balbriggan, County found themselves at 119-7 and 128-8, with only Ross Durity standing up to the Balbriggan bowlers. Tom Clifford and Muhammad Junaid Amin got the required eight runs, and then there was a short wait to see if Leinster could win their last game against Terenure - they couldn't. Four players passed 200 league runs for the season, Cormac Hassett had a supporting role with 213 runs at 19.36, Ross Durity a very decent 271 runs at 30.11, Morne Bauer a very decent indeed 289 runs at 57.8 and Stephan Grobler 423 runs at 42.3. Five bowlers got into double wickets in the league, with Morne Bauer (12 at 23.08), Ahmed Billal Bhatti (12 at 25) and Muhammad Junaid Amin (12 at 25.42). Two bowlers dominated though. Aaron Cawley has a major breakthrough season with 23 wickets at 15.61, with his skipper breaking a record held by two Leinster players - Joe Carroll and Corey Edwards. Stephan Grobler took 31 wickets at 11.23, the previous record being 30 in a league season.
Leinster 1 - Runners up - (Predicted 1st) - Batting Rating 130 - Bowling Rating 135 - RpO for 4.89 - RpO against 4.51 (Stats do not include the Division 1/2 play off match)
Needing one win from the last three matches to win Division 2, Leinster 1 remarkably tied two of the last three games, as well as losing to Cork County, consigning them to a pay off with Railway Union. The fact that they then won that play off will have eased some of the pain, although it was very much a league title that was thrown away. That play off win meant that the main aim of the league was completed, and Leinster will again take their place in Division 1 in 2017. The stats were fairly similar to Cork County in many ways. Four players passed 200 runs, with Craig Mallon (211 at 26.38) and Danny Coad (240 at 21.82) just about getting there. The two batsmen who dominated were Joe Carroll (364 at 36.40) and Gareth Delany who returned from injury in 2015 with a brilliant 435 runs at 43.50). The bowling had four players with decent returns - Bilal Azhar (12 at 22.58) and Gareth Delany (15 at 16.20), with Joe Carroll (24 at 11.17) and Tim Law 21 at 15.81 leading the way. As with all promoted teams from Division 2, Leinster now have to face the problem of how to stay up.
Dublin University 1 - 3rd - (Predicted 2nd) - Batting Rating 98 - Bowling Rating 129 - RpO for 4.52 - RpO against 3.78
A squad with three of the best international cricketers in the province, along with perhaps the best overseas bowler to play in Leinster in the last 20 years couldn't quite finish in the top two, losing probably one too many games. After a disappointing start to the season. Dublin University 1 bounced back, beating North Kildare, Rush, Cork County and Leinster to leave themselves perhaps one match from the title. But against Terenure it wasn't to be, and with their main batsman Lorcan Tucker missing, the students went down by 5 wickets. The bowling was highly impressive, with Matt Petrie leading the way with 16 wickets at 8.75. George Dockrell showed his class with 14 wickets at 13, and Will von Behr added a useful 10 wickets at 22.10. His season finished with an Irish Senior Cup winners medal with Merrion. The batting relied on the talents of Lorcan Tucker (278 runs at 69.5) and Dockrell (281 at 40.14) and unfortunately there wasn't too much else.
Balbriggan 1 - 4th - (Predicted 7th) - Batting Rating 108 - Bowling Rating 94 - RpO for 5.35 - RpO against 4.70
Balbriggan 1 were always there and thereabouts in their hunt for a first ever promotion to Division 1, but just about ran out of steam when they lost to Terenure in early August. But they comfortably finished in 4th place, the same place as in 2014 and 2015. There was a little bit of an over reliance on three all rounders, but perhaps that is not always bad. Mohammad Farrukh was once again brilliant with the bat with 515 runs at 46.82, as well as being distinctly useful with the ball with 17 wickets at 22.65. Duane Harper did well with 200 runs at 25 and 12 wickets at 24, with the undoubted talents of Ehtesham Ahmed (which have now been extended to the umpiring world) returning another great season with 243 runs at 20.25 and 21 wickets at 18.38. The bowling line up was completed by Khalid Bilal, who avoided second season syndrome with 20 wickets at 22.6. James Warsop was the final piece in the jigsaw, the keeper being the top run scorer, with 533 runs at 44.42. Two players bubbling under were the emerging Cian Nulty and the emerged John Mooney. Those seven players provide a decent core for 2017 - throw in a couple more and the promotion challenge will be on.
Terenure 1 - 5th - (Predicted 3rd) - Batting Rating 86 - Bowling Rating 93 - RpO for 3.89 - RpO against 4.54
Probably as a good a season as could be expected for Terenure 1. With a resurgent Dublin University and no overseas player, Terenure looked to their Connacht based contingent to supplement a squad that was good enough to finish above Malahide, Rush and North Kildare. The season didn't start well, and by the middle of July, Terenure had still only a win against Dublin University to their name (although that one win was worth double). But from then on, the team turned on the form, and Malahide, Balbriggan and North Kildare were all beaten as well as a last gasp tie over Leinster that handed the title to Cork County. The Terenure bowling was a bit better than the batting, with five bowlers taking ten wickets or more, although crucially none of them went on to have the dominant seasons that bring league success. Muhammad Arshad had 10 at 32.4, Muhammad Ali had 11 at 15.45, James Smith 11 at 40 and Subramanya Ramnathpur 13 at 27.70. The only bowler with an excellent season was Syed Ali Aijaz Shah with 16 wickets at 14.38. The batting was a little underpowered - no one scored over 200 runs at an average of over 30 (a trait that was shared with Malahide and North Kildare). Shah completed an excellent all round season with 207 runs at 20.7, Arsalan Anwar was joint top scorer with 255 runs at 28.33, and Conor Mullen also scored 255 runs - at 19.62.
Malahide 1 - 6th (Predicted 5th) - Batting Rating 87 - Bowling Rating 96 - RpO for 4.28 - RpO against 4.26
A great start to the season, with wins over Dublin University and Terenure, quickly petered out, as they only had two more wins and a tie from the end of April. Malahide's potential can be seen by one of those wins being over champions Cork County, and the tie was with runners-up Leinster but too often matches against other mid table sides were lost. Malahide's individual performances can be summed up in a very similar way to those of Terenure. The Malahide 1 bowling was a little bit stronger than the batting, and when you look at the names it is no surprise. Neil Boyne had an excllent season with the ball with 18 wickets at 18, and Ireland seamer Peter Chase played only seven games, but clocked up 15 wickets at 16.87. Calum Riches had his normal solid season with bat and ball (11 wickets at 27.73 and 282 runs at 28.2), Pete Saville was his dependable self - 16 wickets at 20.88 and James Newland chipped in with 13 at 23.15. The problem with the batting is illustrated by the fact that after mentioning Riches, there are only two more players who passe 200 runs. Skipper Alan Reynolds hit 212 at 21.2 and Fintan McAllister was once again the leading run scorer with 314 at 26.17.
Rush 1 - 7th (Predicted 6th) - Batting Rating 116 - Bowling Rating 72 - RpO for 5.14 - RpO against 5.26
Our moan in the Division 3 review reflected on how a lack of promotion leads to staleness in the league, and a lack of interest for the neutral. Fairly obviously, exactly the same thing applies at the bottom of Division 2. If there are no teams being relegated, then where is the excitement normally found at the bottom of leagues? But there is of course a massive advantage to those at the bottom of Division 2. In Rush 1's case, it means that they can continue to try and replace the aging team that has served them so well in the league over the last 20 years, by an exciting new team (that probably isn't quite yet ready), without the fear of relegation. One player who has very much arrived already is the much heralded Stephen Doheny who was quite brilliant in Division 2 this season - 502 runs at 52, with one century and five 50s. Doheny has already reached the 1000 senior run mark in his career, and finished the season with 1324 career runs at 32.29. Dean Brogan had a nearly year (according to the criteria of these reviews) with 175 runs at 8 wickets. Apart from those two, it was all down to those who have been around the block a few times. Tipu Gull scored 383 runs at 34.82 alongside 14 wickets at 21.29. Shahid Iqbal was a good bit behind with 219 runs at 21.9 (and only seven wickets). Lynal Jansen (the leading run scorer and wicket taker across all Division 2 cricket since it started in 2011) had a quiet season with 297 runs at 24.75 and 16 wickets at 24.62. And finally Allan Eastwood took 11 wickets at 33. But the issue is there for all to see - youth needs to come into the squad before the veterans get to the end!
North Kildare 1 - 8th (Predicted 8th) - Batting Rating 72 - Bowling Rating 88 - RpO for 3.66 - RpO against 4.49
North Kildare 1 are also benefiting from the current lack of relegation from Division 2. Whereas Rush need the buffer in order to transition to a new team, North Kildare need it to get accustomed to a higher level of cricket than they have played before. In many ways the season was better than expected. There were four wins - over Rush, Leinster, Terenure and Malahide - each of which was a great achievement as all four have played Division 1 cricket in the not too distant past. The bowling attack stood up to the task pretty well, although it could have done with a bit more depth. Wasif Ali took 19 wickets at 19.47, Paul Ryan had 18 at 19.56 and Imran ul Haq also had 18 wickets, at 19.44. Of the others, only Manjeet Singh took more than five wickets (and five of his nine came in the same match). The batting was a different matter though, and North Kildare were bowled out for 153 or less on eight occasions. Only ul Haq passed 200 runs (although at an average of only 16.46) - no one scored even 100 runs at an average of over 20. But they will be in Division 2 again next year, and can work on their batting for another season
The full Division 2 batting averages can be found here, whilst the bowling averages are here.