LANCASHIRE League legend Keith Roscoe reckons his close friend and Rawenstall team-mate Vinny Hanson deserves all the accolades coming his way after the wicketkeeper recorded yet another milestone is his career.

The 32-year-old Hanson claimed his 500th league victim as his side romped to a huge win over Nelson on Sunday, a win that maintained Rawtenstall’s 100 per cent start to the campaign.

And while no-one at the Worswick Memorial Ground is getting carried away with a run that has seen them shoot to joint top of the table in the early weeks, veteran spinner Roscoe admits there was cause for celebration at the bar as a few glasses were raised to toast Rawtenstall skipper Hanson.

“It’s a great achievement to get 500 victims in this league,” said the 52-year-old left-armer.

“Make no mistake, not many keepers can claim that figure – and certainly not inside 19 seasons.

“It’s a tremendous feat and there is plenty of time for Vinny to grab a few more, especially if us bowlers continue to do our business.”

The long-serving Roscoe has played with three keepers during his time at Rawtenstall, Brian Manning, Peter Barnes and Hanson and he is well placed to judge the attributes of the glovemen.

“To be honest you can’t pick one of the three over the others, that would be unfair,” said Roscoe. “They are all fine keepers with very different attributes and Vinny broke Brian’s record and that was a big effort.

“I’m not really one for paying gushing compliments but Vinny is right up there with people like that.

“People sometimes look at him and underestimate him – but he has got a very, very good pair of hands and is extremely quick – and he doesn’t drop many.”

Hanson’s magical 500th victim came when he caught Nelson skipper Neil Thompson off Rawtenstall professional Brett Pelser.

And Roscoe says the South African is playing a big part in the flying start to the season.

“Pels is on fire,” he said. “He got six for and a hundred against Nelson and if your pro is doing that you are in a very good position to win a game.

“But there is a long, long way to go. It is nice to see a fairly open league. There have been some shock results so far and teams are not finding consistency yet but it makes for good entertainment.”