Division 13[1]
Champions – Dublin University 3
League MVP – N. Muhammad [R&SPU]
As with all of these articles, the views expressed therein of those of the author and definitely do not represent those of the Leinster Cricket Union. They might match your views, but if they do, it is more likely to be a co-incidence than anything else. They are to be considered merely the inconsequential ramblings of a fool. Any feedback, or requests for individual, team, Club or all-encompassing statistics may be sent to craig@cricket.ie.
Division 13 must have been one of the tightest competitions in 2013. A mere 2.14% or 8 points covered the top three teams. Dundrum 3rds finished third and will probably remain in Division 13 next term. Second placed R&SPU 6ths fell just 0.27% behind the eventual Divisional Champions, Dublin University 3rds. The importance of bonus points was never better demonstrated as R&SPU actually won a game more than the students, and yet finished as runners up.
There was nearly a full league programme in Division 13 with no walkovers given, no teams withdrawing from the league and only two games with ‘no result’ for the entire season.
The fear of these divisional MVP winners is that the publicity of their victories will attract the attention of the OCC, especially those players playing in multi-team clubs. However, if it ensures that the cream of Leinster cricket rises then surely it can not be a bad thing. It could be that in the future technology will permit the OCC to inform clubs not only that Player A has not been playing for four weeks and should come out of a list, but that Player B has scored many points, taken many wickets or even scored so many runs that they have to be moved up through the teams. The cosy cartel that can exist in Clubs whereby groups of friends manipulate the starring list may be coming to an end. Technology has its dark side. You heard it here first (or second)[2].
Anyhow, enough of opinions and ‘maybes’, and we can move onto the real reason for this article. Statistics, figures, numbers and names. It is a positive thing that players down the leagues can get recognition for their performances and that Clubs can see who and how points are being scored. The Awards given by the governing bodies do tend to highlight the top Club sides and the top players. Not a bad thing as an Awards Night might run to many days if we covered every category and every level. It would make the Oscars© seem like a tea break in comparison.
When it comes to the individual Divisional or overall MVP awards, the students of Dublin University are, of course, hampered by playing each other team only once, and it would take a super-human effort for a student to achieve top spot in any of the season-long categories. They can shine at the one game categories, such as highest score or best bowling, but even then they only get half the chances to shine that the other players do.
The MVP for Division 13, like that for Division 14 did not come from the league winners, but came from second placed R&SPU as N. Muhammad led the field by 155 points. His total of 1,338 points came primarily from his bat. 48% of his points were made up of 2 fifties, 2 centuries and 588 runs. Bowling provided 38%, with 25 wickets and one five wicket hauls. The remainder of his total came from two catches and a division leading 16 games played. He was the second highest point scorer in his Club, second only to joint Overall MVP, Pat Collins and a very respectable 5th overall himself. Whilst he topped the Division 13 table with 1,338, he also scored a further 688 in other divisions and/or cup games.
The top ten point scorers in Division 13 were:
287 players appeared in Division 13, with 73 appearing just the once. Whilst the MVP, N. Muhammad was the only player to appear in all 16 games, three other players were denied the chance to do so with a no result spoiling their perfect records, Adam Ellison and R. Burton [both Rush] and S. Sudarsanan [Dundrum]. A further two players missed just one game, D. Roux [North Kildare] and J. Stackpool [Sandyford].
The top two point scorers overall were also the only players to pass 400 runs for the season and in fact they went on to top 500. Only three other batsmen topped 300 runs. The top five run scorers[4] were:
Eight centuries were scored with only the MVP, N. Muhammad managing to do so more than once. The seven centurions were, in order of scores:
60 half centuries were recorded with 11 players making more than one. The eleven were:
The remaining half centuries were scored for the following clubs. 6 – R&SPU; 5 - North Kildare, Dundrum and Rush; 4 – Knockharley; 3 – Dublin University; 2 – Laois and Sandyford; 1 – Merrion, Civil Service.
K. O’Connor [Dublin University] tops the batting average with 174.00, but this is no statistical fluke. He played in 7 games, batted six times and was dismissed just once whilst scoring 174 runs. He reached no landmarks, no half centuries, no centuries and had a highest score of 39 (not out of course). Perhaps he was too low in the batting order, perhaps his partners could not stay with him, perhaps there were never enough overs remaining, but his was a wicket that obviously was not easy to get. The top 5 batting averages (with no qualifications, but innings shown in brackets) were:
There were 12 batsmen who technically have an average of infinity, having scored runs and not been dismissed at all. They are shown here with their runs and number of innings: Z. Azher (74/1), S. Pal (1/1), J. Gray (7/2), C. Werner (5/1)[all Dublin University]; G. Horn (20/1), S. Hayes (3/1) [both North Kildare]; A. Ravi (12/1), E. Connolly (4/2) [both R&SPU]; D. Nugent (12/1)[Civil Service]; S. Sebastian (8/1), Joshy Thomas (3/1), J. Mahakrara (1/1) [all Dundrum].
When a qualifying mark of 320 runs is included the batting averages are:
Best bowling of 5/5 helped R. Gorvin [Dublin University] achieve a total of 28 wickets for the season in Division 13. This left him 3 ahead of overall points winner N. Muhammad as leading wicket taker. The top 5 (and ties) wicket takers were:
The top five (and ties) bowling averages without qualfying criteria were as follows with the number of wickets taken in brackets also:
With the addition of a qualifying mark of 16 wickets the averages are:
10 players took five wicket hauls, with three of them taking six wickets in an innings, however no-one managed to repeat the feat, but they do also have the best bowling analyses:
Q. Roux [North Kildare] managed to reach 100 overs in the division exactly. As he played 15 games the maximum he could have bowled was 120. No one bowled the maximum possible. The top five over-worked and under appreciated[8] bowlers were:
138 players held at least one of the 296 catches this season in Division 13. 2 players held 9 apiece and so can claim to be the safest hands, although no record is kept of dropped catches or whether they were wearing nice big protective gloves for some or all of them. The top five (and ties) were:
There were nine stumpings, but no-one managed more than one. The 9 stumpers were: D. Bell, N. Rock [both Rush], J. Morgan [Laois], P. Byrne [R&SPU], L. Goulding [Knockharley], D. Nugent [Civil Service], John Fennell [Sandyford and LCU&SA], G. Horn [North Kildare] and D. Wall [Civil Service].
A. Fox [Civil Service], S. Rasool [Laois] and W. Gunnell [Dublin University] all played in 4 games, batted at least once and did not score a run. K. O’Connor [Dublin University] bowled 13 overs without taking a wicket. R. Burton [Rush] played 15 games, the most without taking a catch. Player Unregistered played 3 times, twice for Knockharley and once for R&SPU, scoring no runs and bowling three balls.
In terms of players used (including Player Unregistered), the league looks like this: