Loye seeks new county

Mal Loye has not revealed his future plans

Northamptonshire have lost one of their leading batsmen with Mal Loye declining to sign a new contract.

Loye will leave the Wantage Road club at the end of the season after recent negotiations with chief executive Stephen Coverdale fell through.

Coverdale told BBC Sport Online that the news had come as a surprise.

He said: "We were led to believe that things were progressing well. At his specific request.

"Indeed, at his specific request we had a meeting scheduled for this Friday which we hoped would settle the matter."

Coverdale said Loye had not revealed which county he now intended to join.

Loye has hit exactly 700 runs in the Championship, hitting four centuries at an average of 36.84