7:30am Wednesday 13th January 2010
By Michael Reeves
WORCESTERSHIRE have not made any contingency plans to replace want-away Kabir Ali according to chief executive Mark Newton.
The 29-year-old pace bowler did not report back for pre-season training last week and Newton is hoping the club and player can soon bring an end to the saga.
Kabir asked to be released from the final year of his contract at New Road and the County reluctantly agreed but insisted on £60,000 compensation to allow the former England bowler to leave.
Having spent 10 years at Worcestershire, Kabir only spoke to Hampshire and it is thought there is a three-year contract on the table.
Hampshire’s compensation offer is believed to have fallen short of the County’s expectations and Kabir appears to be moving closer to his move to the south coast.
Should he get his wish, Worcestershire will be left with Matt Mason and Alan Richardson as the only senior bowlers on their books.
“We are all trying to get some finality to all this,” said Newton.
“The board are meeting on Monday and this is something that we need to talk about.
“One thing that I can say is that there has been no conversations about a replacement should Kabir leave.”
Since news broke that the former England bowler had not returned to pre-season training, it has become increasingly likely that the one-time fans’ favourite will not play for Worcestershire again.
The County are unlikely to want to have a player who is extremely unhappy at New Road despite Kabir still having one season remaining on his contract.
While the hard-line principled approach would be to keep the strike bowler with the County next season, Worcestershire cannot afford to keep one of their top earners if his heart and soul is not in the club.
The New Road side will release their annual accounts next Friday with the report expecting to show a loss of more than £100,000.
By trying to get as much compensation as they can for Kabir, as well as saving on his wages, the club would benefit from a financial boost following yet another tough year.
“We have said all along that the past 12 months have been extremely tough financially,” Newton added.
“It has been a bad year and we are expecting to suffer a loss.”
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