Wells to leave Leicestershire

Vince Wells, Leicestershire's captain for the last three years, has rejected the offer of a new one-year contract and has decided to leave the club.

The 37-year-old all-rounder who made his Leicestershire debut in 1992,scored nearly 8,500 runs for the county including 17 centuries and took 262 wickets. His excellent all round performances earned him a call up to the England one-day International squad and he was a key member of Leicestershire's Championship winning sides of 1996 and 1998.

Wells made his decision to leave Grace Road after a meeting with general manager Kevin Hill who said: "He declined the offer of a one year contract and said he would seek his future elsewhere. Personally I am extremely disappointed that I was unable to persuade him to stay, but I respect his decision.

"We appreciate the contribution Vince has made to the club in his time here and wish him all the very best for the future."

Wells' decision to leave means that six players have now left the club since the end of the season - Neil Burns, Carl Crowe, Ashley Wright and Stephen Adshead who were all released, plus Iain Sutcliffe and Wells who have rejected new contracts.

But Paul Nixon and Jeremy Snape have been signed and Hill said: "We look forward to the announcement of some more positive signings in the near future." Hill also indicated that the club is also planning to make a statement to answer the questions being asked about the situation at Grace Road. He said: "When I took the job on a number of issues needed to be resolved.It is difficult, and it would also be improper, to make any statement until we conclude those outstanding issues. But in the course of time we will be issuing a full statement in response to the questions that are being asked."