The first month of the 2014 season has now passed and I have been looking at those who had targets that they might achieve during the present season and have already done so. The initial list I set out has in fact changed slightly with some additions and deletions. The revised list is being sent out in conjunctions with this article.
In all 5 have got to the target I had set down for them. Perhaps not surprisingly these are all players who did not need a large amount to get there, as they were very close to achieving it in 2013. The batsmen involved were within 100 runs of getting there at the season start and the bowlers within less than 5 wickets.
JF Mooney (North County)
John was one of those who had both batting and bowling targets set out last season. He reached his bowling target quickly but ended the season just 95 short of the magic target of 5,000 runs which would have meant he would always appear in the career records, even after he retired. In the end he took just two games to get there. He started the season with 86 against YMCA and followed that up with 16 against Clontarf which saw him past 5,000 runs. Congratulations to him on that. This is my 20th season on doing the season records, but John started his career before that, having played one match in 1994, no doubt as an emergency replacement. At the time he reached his target John has now played 245 matches for North County, and batted 216 times.
PJ Byrne (The Hills)
Patrick Byrne was in my list of targets for last year but in fact did not play in Division 1 for the Hills for personal reasons. However he has resumed playing for the Firsts this year and he entered the year needing 34 runs to get to 4,000. He achieved that figure in his 3rd match of the season against Terenure. At the time he reached his target Patrick has now played 205 matches for The Hills, batted 190 times, scored 1 century and 20 half centuries.
FP McAllister (Malahide)
Finton too was in last year’s target list but he ended up just narrowly failing to achieve the quota (to use the language we became so familiar with last weekend) and ended up 37 runs short of 3,000 runs. He wasted little time in reaching that figure this season, taking just 2 matches to get there and achieving it with 37 in his second match of the season against Balbriggan. In scoring those runs Finton has represented Rush and latterly Malahide. He has played in all 143 matches, batted 135 times in getting his 3.013 runs to date. He has scored 3 centuries and 16 fifties.
DT Johnston (YMCA)
Trent finished last year on 297 wickets, so needing only 3 to reach 300. He is another who wasted no time in getting there this season, indeed he got 4 wickets in his first match for YMCA against Pembroke. That has brought him to 301 wickets. Since Trent first started playing in Leinster for Carlisle in 1995 he has played some 175 matches, batted 159 times. He has scored 5,795 runs (including 14 Centuries and 31 Fifties) and taken 301 wickets (including 5 wickets in an innings 9 times). As can be seen from his career figures he has another target for 2014, needing just over 200 runs to reach 6,000 runs.
One thing that Trent’s figures make very clear is how difficult it now is for bowlers to reach the magic figure of 500 wickets to ensure they will appear in the career records long after they have retired from playing. This is largely due to the restrictions that came in around 1997 where bowlers were restricted to not bowling more than 20% of the available overs in an innings whereas before than it was possible for bowlers to bowl up to half the overs in an innings for the opposition and there was no limit on the overs in an innings. Consideration is being given as to how we can reflect the differences this results in looking at career records. This is something we may have something to say about later.
Bill Whaley
Bill entered this season needing 4 wickets to emulate his brother Emmett in reaching 200 wickets. He got there this year following Pembroke Seconds promotion to Division 2 and he took the required 4 wickets in his first 3 matches for Pembroke 2’s in Division 2. In all Bill has played 212 matches for Pembroke in Division’s 1 and 2 up to and including the match in which he reached 200 wickets.
A decision had been made last year that wickets taken for 2nd Elevens would not count in career records. This is something that is being reviewed. Therefore until we come to an outcome about that, runs scored and wickets taken by 2nd Eleven players will count in career figures provided they are taken in Division 2. What might or might not happen after that will be decided in the light of the outcome to that review.
Reviews to come
For those watching Leinster Senior Cup and Division 1 and 2 matches this weekend you may be interested to know that if he achieves one catch in the field it will be John Mooney’s 100th catch in the field for North County. As well as that he took 18 behind the wicket and 4 stumpings.
An update on who has achieved what in relation to seasonal targets will be something I will be looking at come the end of June.