Division 8
Champions – Adamstown 1
League MVP – P. Arkadi [Civil Service]
Division 8 marks the half way point in our year end analysis of facts and figures, as supplied by the captains in their result cards. Paul Reynolds looks after the raw data and provides a comprehensive database to this column. It would not be possible without the co-operation of Paul and the captains, plus the Club Secretaries who register players and of course without the players themselves, scoring the runs, holding the catches, taking the wickets.
Division 8 was a league where the two teams at the top both won 9 games and yet Adamstown won the league by 18.57%, despite scoring 17 points less than Dundrum. The difference lies in the fact that Adamstown lost only one game and had 4 no results, whilst Dundrum lost 5 games. Is this one of the cases which reinforces the view that even the lower division should be decided on points and not percentages? Should Dundrum have been forced to re-fix their no result games? It is all irrelevant under the current structure and Adamstown were crowned champions.
At the other end of the table, Malahide will probably be glad that they received the walkover win which enabled them to finish third from bottom and just outside the relegation zone, ahead of Leinster by 3.38% and Civil Service by 4.55%. All three teams won four games with Civil Service losing 10, Leinster losing 9 (with 1 no result) and Malahide losing 8 (with 1 no result and 1 walkover win).
Mid-table found the other three teams in the division, Dundalk, The Hills and Wicklow County who all won 7 games.
Yet again the MVP came from a team which did not capture the title. The surprise is that the MVP and the second placed player both came from the team which propped up the Division and will probably be playing in Division 9 next season.
The two Civil Service players both amassed more than 1,000 points and were the only players to do so. P. Arkadi [Civil Service] finished 19 points ahead of his teammate S. Shahzad [Civil Service]. The top ten point scorers in this Division were as follows.
249 players appeared in this team Division, with 70 appearing just the once. Leading the appearances was S. Shahzad [Civil Service] and R. Evans [The Hills] both of whom played 14 games, the maximum possible in this eight team league. 8 players played in all but one of their team’s games.
Two players made in excess of 400 runs, but no-one player dominated the run scoring charts. The top five run scorers were:
5 centuries were scored in Division 8 with two players from Malahide, two from Adamstown and the one from the relegated Civil Service being the only century and a half. In order of highest scores they were:
Only two players made it to the nervous 90’s and did not go on to complete the century. P. O’Boyle [Adamstown], who made the most of his pre-season practise in the back garden to record 90, and P. Arkadi [Civil Service], the overall MVP winner who reached 93*.
58 half centuries were recorded by 38 players, with players making more than one. Top of the list, were three players: Nicky Fusco [Wicklow County], Joji Mathew [Dundrum] and S. Jeyaseelan [Dundalk] who all raised their bats for fifties 4 times during the season. The other multiple fifty scorers were: 3 – N. Johnson [Adamstown], H. Tanveer [Civil Service], V. Jacob [Dundrum]. 2 – A. Hancock [Wicklow County], J. Joseph [Dundrum], J. Magee [The Hills], K. O’Herlihy [Leinster] and A. Williams [Dundalk]
Now we move onto the two batting average tables. First up we look at the no qualification table. Just batting, even once is enough to get you onto this table.
Leading this table is an average of 92.00, although it came from three innings with two not outs. But even so it deserves recognition and hence the two tables. The table for the consistent season long batsmen comes after.
In this division there is no-one with just one amazing innings, even if some made the most of not outs. A. Ikram has the highest batting average with 92.00 with 92 runs from his 3 innings (and 2 not outs) in this Division. The top 5 batting averages (with no qualifications, but innings shown in brackets) were as follows:
When a qualifying mark of 320 runs is applied the table changed dramatically. N. Johnson [Adamstown] leaps to the top of the table and is joined by four new names.
There were 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: K. NcPhilemey [Malahide] (25/1), Adeel Afzal [Adamstown] (16/2), I. Niazi [Leinster] (16/1), P. Wall [Adamstown] (6/1), T. Savill [Wicklow County] (3/1) and D ffrenchMullen (2/1).
753 wickets fell to 122 bowlers in this Division. 89 bowlers took at least one wicket. The top 5 wicket takers were:
The top five (and ties) bowling averages with no qualifying mark set were as follows with the number of wickets taken in brackets also:
The top five bowlers, when a qualifying mark of 16 wickets is applied were:
In order of the best bowling analyses, the players who took a five wicket haul were as follows. It is hard enough to do it once, but one player managed it three times and had the best analysis of the season in this Division.
Two bowlers passed the 100 over mark for the season and probably qualify for a hardship grant (if such a thing existed). The top five bowlers in terms of overs delivered were as follows:
101 players held at least one of the 226 catches this season in this Division. Manager of the Leinster Lightning squad, Ed Wyeth [Leinster] shared the most catches with David Nugent {Civil Service] and both also had one stumping, and although David will tell you, “I woz robbed” of a stumping the records do not reflect it. The top five (and ties) were as follows (players who also had a stumping are shown with an * although we do not know if they were regular keepers or not):
One of the above who is definitely a keeper is M. Donegan [The Hills] who had a Division leading 4 stumpings, a third of the 12 in total taken in Division 8. The top 5 and ties are:
Player Unregistered did not play. Every team in this Division registered every player. This is the first division to have done this so far….. Top work Club Secretaries!!
In terms of players used (with no Player Unregistered), the league looks like this:
Quite how Civil Service finished bottom of the league is beyond me. Top 2 MVP players, 2nd, 3rd and 4th players in runs scored, highest individual score, 4th and 5th players in batting average, top and 3rd highest wicket takers, most overs, most catches and bottom of the league. Strange indeed. They must start as favourites for Division 9 next season if they can retain these players.
Disclaimer….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, or those of my Club and are completely unofficial. 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.