Langenhoven joins exclusive '400 club'

VETERAN fast bowler Neil Langenhoven joined an exclusive club on Saturday when he played his 400th game for Yallingup-Oddbods in the Busselton-Margaret River Cricket Association.

Langenhoven joins other BMRCA stalwarts including Mike Adams, Don Clarke, Neil Hopkins, Mal Penfold, Shane Lilley, Michael Earl and Mat Kent who have all played 400 games in the local competition, which dates back to 1911.

Langenhoven is the first player to reach the milestone for YOBS and is within reach of the coveted 600-wicket milestone for the club.

Unfortunately for the South African-born quick, YOBS were not able to register a win on the day, going down to Margaret River Hawks who remain the ladder leaders in A-Grade.

Batting first at Gloucester Park, YOBS were bowled out for 110 in 42 overs on a juicy deck, with skipper Nayton Colombera leading the way on 36 runs.

With classy paceman Aaron Thomas returning to the fold (3-27) and left-arm spinner Rumesh Silva continuing his good year (2-8 off 10 overs), Hawks are coming good at the right time of the season.

They lost only four wickets in chasing down the required runs to beat YOBS in 31 overs.

The other two A-grade encounters saw Dunsborough beat Cowaramup at Cowaramup and Vasse outlast a spirited St Marys effort at Barnard Park.

Vasse had a team effort to thank in posting a total of 6-207 against Saints, with Simon Harkness (45), who was dropped three times in the first four overs, Jeremy Murphy (37) and Ryan Clark (57 not out) all chipping in.

Young Saints fast bowler Sean Zahra extracted incredible life from the Barnard deck in his opening spell, but could not get the breakthrough when it was needed most.

Saints did well to reach 158 in their quest for victory, with skipper Zoraiz Saeed hitting 51 before being run out in a close call.

Dunsborough had the better of Cowaramup in the remaining A-Grade fixture, restricting the Bulls to 106 all out, of which extras (34) contributed twice as much as the next highest in Tom Coulson (17).

Teenagers Rory Calhoun and Tom Reagan captured three wickets each for Dunsborough, who made easy work of the run chase with Alex Cooke (47 off 43 balls) and Ajith Rajapaksha (32 not out) leading the way for a five-wicket win.

With Country Week break coming up, Hawks lead the way in the battle for the Yates Shield on 80 points, followed by Dunsborough on 66, Vasse on 54, Cowaramup on 44, St Marys on 32 and YOBS on 22.

In B-Grade cricket on Saturday, St Marys (8-227) kept Vasse (188 all out) still winless at Barnard Park, with Kye Barrow starring on 88 not out.

At Margaret River, Hawks (170 all out) featured a successful return to cricket by Sam Berridge (58 off 39 balls) and a four-wicket burst by Tyson Warnke in their win over YOBS (101 all out), whose star with the ball was James Trewren (4-13 off nine overs).

The highlight of the C-Grade round on Saturday was a high-scoring win by ladder-leaders Cowaramup (7-240 in 40 overs) over Margaret River Hawks (226 all out in 33 overs) at Cowaramup Oval.

Anthony Lunt hit an unbeaten 82 for the Bulls, but the player of the day was Byron George for Hawks, who smashed 91 runs off just 36 balls including 12 fours and 6 sixes in an amazing display of power hitting which nearly got his team home.

Nannup scored a much-needed victory on their home soil when they restricted Yallingup-Oddbods to 153 all out (Ross Ligtermoet 59) and scored the required target with three wickets and three overs to spare (Lachlan Smith scoring 54 runs).

At Churchill Park, YOBS Academy mounted a total of 5-192 (Dan Lucas and Mathew Hilyard hitting run-a-ball fifties) which proved too much for St Marys (132 all out), with father and son Dan and Tom Lucas taking six of the wickets for YOBS Academy.

The remaining game saw Dunsborough White romp home by nine wickets over Vasse inside 20 overs at the Vasse Playing Fields.

Batting first, Vasse made 138 all out (skipper Nathan Whitfield hitting 48), before Jude Bowler-Wright (67 not out off 56 balls) and Darcy Carroll (44 off 29 balls) led the charge for the victors who lost only one wicket.