Wessels leaves Northants

Kepler Wessels has been at Northants since 2003 © Getty Images

Kepler Wessels, director of cricket at Northamptonshire, has agreed to step down from his coaching position by mutual consent after a poor run of results this season.

Tensions have been running high both on the field and in the dressing room and the former South African captain feels that the time is right to leave the club.

Northamptonshire now have the opportunity to plan ahead for next season, giving them time to find a replacement for Wessels and decide on their playing squad, after their budget for development has been vastly reduced.

Wessels joined Northamptonshire in 2003 and in his first season with the club they got promotion to Division One of the County Championship and the National Cricket League.

In the years following the club had been forced to tighten its belt but despite this difficulty the team has maintained its Division 1 status in the National Cricket League and has figured prominently in the Twenty20 Cup, reaching the quarter-finals earlier this year.