OXFORD pool wizard Malcolm Lewis is feeling on top of the world after helping England win the World Eight-Ball Championships.

The 40-year-old hot-shot from Rose Hill was a member of the 15-man England squad who swept all before them to win the UK Pool Counties Federation-organised tournament at the Royal Spa, Bridlington.

A jubilant Lewis, who plays for the Osney Arms in the Oxford leagues, said: "It is one of the highlights of my career."

It means he has now won world team titles run by both of the sport's governing bodies, having helped England take the EPA World Championship in Australia in 1992.

Lewis won 11 of his 16 matches in the week-long competition which was sponsored by Oxfordshire-based bookmakers Stan James and is due to be screened by Sky Sports in the next month.

But he didn't play in the 17-15 win over Scotland in the final as he had already agreed to step down from the A team to captain the B team in the European Championships in Porthcawl in November.

"I played well and was not too disappointed not to play in the final," he said. "It was more a political thing with me taking over the B side."

He won two of his three matches in the 17-12 semi-final win over Wales and notched hat-tricks against Gibraltar and the Shetland Islands.

He won two out of three in the wins over France and Wales before taking a crucial late frame in the 17-16 triumph which knocked out holders Northern Ireland. England lost to Scotland in the group stage with Lewis winning two.