Rumesh Silva named Cricketer of the Year

Rumesh Silva from Margaret River Hawks took 43 wickets at 6.4 to win the A-Grade Cricketer of the Year trophy. Photos by Vanessa Hatton.
MARGARET RIVER HAWKS spin bowler Rumesh Silva and Vasse allrounder Simon Harkness were the major individual award winners when the Busselton-Margaret River Cricket Association held a well-attended windup and trophy presentation at the Barnard Pavilion in Busselton on Saturday night.
Silva scored 859 points to win the Libby Mettam MLA A-Grade Cricketer of the Year trophy from donor Libby Mettam, more than 100 points ahead of runner-up Grant Garstone, also from Hawks Cricket Club.
Harkness was rewarded for a highly consistent season with the bat and ball when he polled 21 votes from the umpires to win the House Medal for the A-Grade Best and Fairest award, two points ahead of runner-up Silva on 19 votes.
Cowaramup skipper Archer Coates received the Barnard Cup from Barnard family descendant Anne Fennessy for winning the A-Grade premiership, while Margaret River Hawks captain Jack Green was bestowed with the Yates Shield from Yates family donor Mike Yates for claiming the A-Grade minor premiership.
The Yates Shield, dating from 1923, and the Barnard Cup, from 1926, are two of the oldest continuing trophies in any WA Country cricket competition outside of Perth, said Barry House, the master of ceremonies at Saturday’s windup.
Yallingup-Oddbods’ Neil Langenhoven was recognised for his Country Week contributions spanning 20 years when he was inducted as the BMRCA’s newest life member.
Dunsborough B-Grade captain Cam Morris received the Barnard Shield from Anne Fennessy for the B-Grade premiership, while Dunsborough Cricket Club also took the prestigious Bovell Bowl for club attainment over the three grades of competition.
Vasse Cricket Club C-Grade captain Nathan Whitfield received the Penfold Shield from Ashley Penfold for the C-Grade premiership, reflecting a remarkable finals performance by Vasse to come from fourth place to win the flag.
Dunsborough Blue captain Mat Lepidi was awarded with the Al Miller Shield for winning the C-Grade minor premiership.

Simon Harkness scored 468 runs in the 15-match home-and-away competition to win the A-Grade batting aggregate trophy, while Shane Joyce from Hawks averaged 44.1 to win the A-Grade batting average award.
Rumesh Silva and Anthony Quinn from Dunsborough were the two outstanding bowlers of the A-Grade competition this season, taking 43 wickets and 36 wickets respectively, 12 wickets ahead of Cowaramup’s Hugh Mugford in third place.
Silva’s 43 wickets came at just 6.4 runs apiece, also earning him the A-Grade bowling average trophy.
Mugford won the Most Improved trophy for senior players while St Marys 16-year-old fast bowler Sean Zahra was awarded with the Association’s Ron Bell Most Improved Junior trophy.
Silva was recognised for his two A-Grade hat-tricks and an analysis of 6-7 in another game with the Association’s Most Outstanding Performance trophy.
The George Kemp Memorial B-Grade Cricketer of the Year was won by Hawks allrounder Tyson Warnke on 654 points, well clear of teammate Blake Gillam, who was runner-up on 545 points.
Dunsborough skipper Cam Morris won the B-Grade batting aggregate award with 403 runs while teammate Tully Schofield won the B-Grade batting average trophy with 364 runs at 72.8. Blake Gillam won the B-Grade bowling aggregate trophy while Dunsborough’s Henry Marriott won the B-Grade bowling average trophy.
Nannup’s Lachlan Smith was crowned C-Grade Cricketer of the Year with 738 points, while St Marys captain Matt Snaddon was runner-up on 643 points. Other individual award winners in C-Grade this year included Vasse skipper Nathan Whitfield (batting aggregate), Dunsborough’s Garry Dagg (batting average), Mark Barrett-Lennard and Rob Williams (sharing the bowling aggregate) and Nathan McClymont (bowling average).
This year’s fielding trophies were won by Jack Green (A-Grade), Matt Miller (B-Grade) and Tom O’Sullivan (C-Grade).