Hampshire Under-17 captain Luke Webb hit 81 against his Bashley (Rydal) club-mates but was unable to salvage an otherwise disappointing Academy batting performance on the Ageas Bowl Nursery Ground.

Webb’s 81 amounted to exactly half the Academy total of 162, which Bashley breezed past inside 35 overs to win by seven wickets, writes MIKE VIMPANY.

Fielding an all-teenage side, the Academy struggled to make any impression after losing three early wickets, two of them to left-arm seamer Andy Neal (2-21).

By lunch they had lost three more wickets and were facing the prospect of a modest score having slipped to 103-6.

Webb, who is dual registered to play for Bashley when the Academy do not require him, dug in, hitting a six and ten fours in a 151-ball stay at the crease.

He added handy runs with Justin Parvess and Miles Covers, but off-spinner Simon Watkins (4-44) continued to chip away at the lower order.

Webb was eventually eighth out – the first of two victims for Hampshire’s Sean Terry (2-15) as the Academy lost their last three wickets at 162.

Left-arm quick Tom Barber had Terry (19) caught behind by Lewis McManus, but it was a while before they took another wicket as Neil Baker (25) joined Neil Thurgood to move the Bashley reply to 108.

Thurgood went about his business quietly, making an unbeaten 69, including ten fours, but was content to allow Ryan Higgins centre stage.

The Middlesex prospect, who will join Academy trio Tom Alsop, Tom Barber and Lewis McManus in the England Under-19 squad for a tri-series against Bangladesh and Pakistan next month, slammed a six and seven fours in a quick-fire 40 not out.

Higgins is in good nick, having made a recent county Second XI Championship century against Essex II.