Dexter to leave Kent

Kent batsman Neil Dexter has revealed his frustration at his lack of first-team action was the main reason behind his decision to turn down the offer of a three-year contract at the club.

The 24-year-old has been in impressive form in the LV County Championship for Kent this season.

Neil Dexter has had limited opportunities in the first team

He has made one century and one fifty in the six appearances he has made in Division One and currently averages over 33 in the four-day game this season.

He featured once for Kent in the Friends Provident Trophy where he scored an unbeaten 100 to help his side win the quarter-final against Somerset in June, but was loaned to Essex four days later.

Upon returning from that loan spell, Dexter has hit impressive knocks of 105 against Yorkshire, 75 against Lancashire and 36 against Hampshire.

The presence of players such as Justin Kemp, Azhar Mahmood, Matt Walker and Darren Stevens, however, has seen kept the South-African batsman down the pecking order at the club.

He said: “The last two seasons at Kent have been incredibly frustrating and I feel a fresh start at a new county will give me greater opportunity to establish myself as a first team player in all forms of the game.”

Graham Johnson, Kent’s chairman of cricket, is upset to lose Dexter, saying: “We are bitterly disappointed that Neil has decided not to pursue his future career with Kent.”