LYMINGTON skipper Simon Beetham says Mason Crane is in for a culture shock when he takes his spinning wares to the Sports Ground tomorrow.

Hampshire player Crane is poised to turn out for his county's academy team, four days before he could potentially win his first England cap in a T20 encounter with South Africa.

Lymo go into the match off the back of three successive Southern Premier League victories, a run that saw them displace Bashley at the top of the Premier Division table last weekend.

And even though Beetham's team are still missing big-hitting Kiwi opener Terry Crabb – who is plagued by an Achilles problem – the captain is backing his on-song top order to come out firing against leg spinner Crane.

He told the Daily Echo: "It will be interesting to see how we get on against an England player! We have not faced any top quality leg spinners this year, so it is something we can enjoy.

"I do not think our guys will be overawed by anyone, they will really look forward to the challenge.

"Our top six are all pretty confident after the way they have batted in the past few weeks. We are going into games expecting to either chase down any target, or post something formidable ourselves."

Crane has been on England's radar since breaking into the Hampshire side two years ago. He has taken 11 Championship scalps in three matches this season and, in March, became Australian team New South Wales's first overseas player since Imran Khan in 1985.

"Our facilities will be as far removed from anything that Mason is used to as you can imagine," said Beetham.

"We’re still changing in Portakabins because the pavilion is being done up; he’s playing at Division One grounds and was in Australia over the winter.

"With the pavilion the way it is, it's a bit of a makeshift facility down there – we're looking forward to it being finished.

"But the wicket's been pretty good and we'll have to see how it plays on Saturday. Hopefully, it's not turning square!"

Hampshire Academy have won only once in six games and this weekend will come up against an opponent who appeared for their senior team last week.

Lymington's Calvin Dickinson played as a wicketkeeper-batsman for Hampshire in a four-day match against South Africa A, snaffling four catches in the tourists' first dig, before scoring 99 with the bat – 13 more than his team-mates managed between them.

"It was great to see a Lymington player doing well," added Beetham. "I think he expected to, even in those circumstances, and, hopefully, he can do the same against the academy on Saturday."