Leinster Senior Career Bowling 1919 - 2014

Thirty three players make it into the all-time bowling averages where the threshold is simply 500 wickets. Three players have taken more than 1000 wickets, Jimmy Boucher leads the table with 1303 and Gerry Kirwan and Niall McConnell are tied on 1033.

In terms of the bowling averages, Alec O’Riordan leads the pack with a remarkable 849 wickets at 8.89. The only player with an average less than 10. Economy rates and strike rates unfortunately cannot be calculated [as the number of overs bowled was not recorded]. In terms of 5W hauls – again Jimmy Boucher is well out in front having achieved the feat 124 times in his career.

It might be thought that bowlers would have a shorter career than batters, but two [Gerry Duffy and Jimmy Boucher] spanned 40 years. Indeed the average career of the top bowlers was 30 years, while that of those in the batting list was only 25.

The club with the most bowlers in the list turns out to be Leinster [7] followed by Clontarf and Pembroke [6].

As would of course be expected given the change in playing conditions since the introduction of overs cricket  – the table is skewed towards players who made their debuts earlier in the history of Leinster cricket. Ten players made their debuts between the 1920s and the 1940s. In the next two decade there were 17. And since the start of the 1970s there have been only six.

Finally five players appear on both batting and bowling, O’Riordan, Duffy, Shoukat, Williams and Molins [S].