Division 4 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2016) - Furqan ul Haq (Railway Union) - 1590 runs @ 30.58
Most runs in a Division 4 season - Mubasher Siddique (Civil Service) - 737 runs (2013)
Highest score - Rashid Mehraj - 199 - Laois 1 vs North Kildare 1 - Togher - 29 July 2012
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2016) - Naveed Khan (Civil Service) - 69 wkts @ 14.25
Most wickets in a Division 4 season - Yaqoob Ali (YMCA) - 36 wkts (2011)
Best bowling - Yaqoob Ali - 8-16 - YMCA 2 vs Malahide 3 - Malahide - 10 July 2011
Most matches - Furqan ul Haq (Railway Union) - 55 - (2011-2016)
Highest team score - 396-5 - Railway Union 2 vs North Kildare 1 - The Maws - 4 Aug 2012
Lowest team score - 53 all out - Civil Service 1 vs North Kildare 1 - The Maws - 15 June 2013
And finally to our 29th competition preview for the 2017 season. Division 4 starts this weekend, and perhaps oddly, there are very good reasons for why none of the eight teams will win the league. Fortunately, leagues do not work like that, and it is a case of finding which team has the best worst reason for not winning the league!
There is one indisputabe fact about Division 4, and it is trotted out each year in our Division 4 preview. It is very, very hard for any third team to do well. That has been the case for the whole history of league cricket in Leinster, and isn't about to change this year. So before we look at the details behind Phoenix 3's chances, we have to accept that it will be a difficult year anyway. 2016 actually wasn't as good as 2015 for the side. In the latter, their promotion was blocked because their 2nds were relegated from Division 3, whilst last season, they finished 3rd but were still promoted as Merrion 4 could not go up. 2015 was their best ever finish (33rd in the league), and they need to be 30th just to be safe. On top of that, their record against Knockharley 1 (one of only two teams they have played before, the other being Merrion 3) is awful, losing all five matches they have played. Apologies to my friends in Phoenix, but it has to be 8th place.
I'll start the next paragraph with the proviso that each of the other seven teams have been considered as winners of the league. There were reasons that each of them coudn't win the league - but of course that is the same as saying they all have a chance. Knockharley 1 are one of the few teams in Leinster to have improved every single year since 2011, rising 19 places in six years. To avoid relegation they will need to improve by another three places, which is definitely possible. But if they do escape relegation, who will replace them? That is the reason why it was difficult to predict anything other than 7th for Knockharley. Along with the fact that they don't seem to have a much stronger squad for 2017 when compared to last year.
Dundum 1 spent 2016 roaming the countryside, playing some matches in Kildare's Clongowes Wood, and others in Dublin's St Columba's College. That doesn't lend itself to a happy club, but it looks as if 2017 should be better. Depesite all the turmoil last year ,they still finished in 29th place in the league, equivalant to 5th this year. A few of the players who left Dundrum at the end of 2015 are returning, and they will be no weaker than last year (although not that stronger either). Against that, there are a good few clubs who look as if they may be a bit stronger - based on little more than a hunch. So we'll go for Dundrum to finish 6th.
Laois 1 are another team who have had something of a tumultuous time, and there has been much talk of players leaving and teams being dropped. But a win over Knockharley in last week's postponed 2016 Wallace Cup final showed that there is still plenty of talent in the club, and it may not be all doom and gloom. We'll take a punt, that the season will not be as successful as 2016, that there will be no Senior 2 Cup, and no National Cup final. But there should be a mid-table finish, and that is not the end of the world.
North County 2 have either been in the top two of Division 4 or the bottom two of Division 3 in each of the last three seasons. So it would be easy to predict another promotion. But this hasn't been the most cheery of winters in Balrothery with a procession walking out the gates to pastures new. There is still plenty of young talent on display, but they no longer look like a title winning team. Top half (just), but no promotion. 4th.
Before the complaints come in, we know that it was stated above that 3rd teams have no chance in Division 4. Merrion 3 are something else though, and in a division where there is uncertainty everywhere, Merrion 3 bring stability, and the knowledge that they wil put out decent teams week in, week out. Their best ever performance was back in 2014, when they came 27th in the league, and that equates to 3rd, We'll go for that again, and there has to be an outside chance that Merrion 1, Merrion 2 and Merrion 3 will win Divisions 2, 3 and 4.
Civil Service 1 are something of an exception in the league this year. There is nothing really "wrong" with them at all. That is not quite the same as saying that everything is rosy though. Last year was their lowest league finish in the last six years, and the same again would mean 4th. But there has been no mass migration away from the club, and in a fluid league Service could end up being quite boring, doing the simple things and getting promoted. 2nd.
And that just leaves one team, and it is something of an odd choice, that could back fire. Railway Union 2 haven't won a league of any sort since 1988. With Park Avenue out of action for much of the year, they will be nomadic. And enough players left to cause some serious head scratching within the club. But against that, there are also lots of new players, enough exisiting talent, and the fact that the lack of a strong opposition in Division 4 could just allow them to sneak in. This is definitely a punt, and it could back fire horribly, but when all is said and done Railway Union 2 just looked more like title winners than the other seven!
Phoenix 3 host North County 2 on Sunday, whilst Railway Union 2 travel to Merrion 3 on Monday.