South Wilts teenage quick Josh Croom produced his best figures of the season when he bowled his adopted Adelaide club Glenelg to a 67-run win over South Australia West End Second Grade Premier League rivals Adelaide University.

Croom returned pleasing figures of 4-31 off 20 overs as Glenelg defended 194-9. They bowled the university students out for 134.

The 18-year old from Stratford-Under-Castle, who is spending the winter at Darren Lehmann’s Cricket Academy, removed one of the university openers before returning to the attack to nip out numbers seven, eight and nine, and extinguish any hope for the undergraduates, who had rallied from 76-7.

The four-wicket haul took Croom’s tally to 13 in the past five matches and put him second in the West End bowling charts – his economy rate of 2.24 being the best in the Second Grade competition.

A week earlier, Croom swung the match Glenelg’s way after East Torrens at 180-8 looked set to overhaul a target of 194-9. But Croom whipped out the last two batsmen in a quick-fire burst, which earned Glenelg a thrilling three-run win. He finished with 2-12 off 9.3 overs.

With three rounds of matches remaining, Glenelg are already certain of a home draw in the play-off semi-finals.

Croom, who will rejoin the Hampshire Academy when he returns from Adelaide shortly before Easter, was coached at Millfield by the school’s Director of Cricket Mark Garaway, who lavished praise on the Salisbury teenager.

“It is so amazing yet not at all surprising to see Croomy doing so well out in Adelaide. He is certainly on an upward development curve and I am fascinated to see where he ends up,” he said.

“The stock price for left arm pace bowlers has never been higher and Josh is well positioned to take full advantage of the opportunities that he creates for himself over the next few years.”

He added: “Croomy is a fantastic lad. I first met him when he came on a coaching week that Andrew Strauss and myself did out in St Lucia.

“His bowling action in that trip is pretty much the same as the one that we see today. The things that Josh added to his armoury at Millfield were his physicality, his consistency and his cricket awareness.

“These all came on so much, particularly in the 6th form as his maturity levels developed.

“Josh has always played cricket with a smile on his face and was a fantastic role model for the younger players at the school.

“He joined our coaching groups, working with cricketers from local primary schools and acting as assistant coach within the Somerset Cricket Board’s Lord Taverners “Super 1’s” satellite centre.”