RICHIE Lock claimed ECB British Gas Southern Premier League career-best figures as Lymington brushed aside Hampshire Academy to maintain pole position in the top flight.

All-rounder Lock (5-24) helped Lymington register an emphatic 203-run win when he entered the fray to polish off a youthful Academy outfit at the Sports Ground.

Skipper Simon Beetham (3-13) and fellow opener Matt Metcalfe (2-15) reduced the Academy to 20 for five in pursuit of Lymington’s 284. And although teenagers Tom South (22) and Dorset’s Scott Currie (22) showed some resistance, both were among Lock’s victims – as was former Hampshire star James Tomlinson – with the Academy shot out for just 81.

Ben Rogers (39) cracked no fewer than nine fours in his 29-ball stay to give the Lymington innings early impetus.

And after Ryan Scott and Lock had departed, Calvin Dickinson (58) and Ed Ellis (34) continued to pepper the boundary in a fourth-wicket stand of 81.

Then, after both had fallen in quick succession with the score on 171, it was left to Dom Hand (44) and Simon Beetham (41) to ensure Lymington’s good early work did not go to waste.

They shared 75 for the sixth wicket with Hand remaining undefeated at the close.

* The scheduled appearance of Hampshire star Mason Crane did not materialise, the leg-spin prodigy having turned an ankle in training the previous day.