WORCESTERSHIRE wicketkeeper James Pipe has been linked with a move out of New Road.

The 27-year-old Yorkshireman is out of contract at the end of the current season and is believed to be wanted by rival county clubs.

Derbyshire have been linked with Pipe as they face a likely battle hanging on to their own gloveman Luke Sutton, a target for Lancashire.

County chief executive Mark Newton insists efforts are being made to keep Pipe at the club and a new contract will be offered later this summer.

But Pipe may look elsewhere with up-and-coming Kidderminster teenager Steve Davies groomed to take over the wicketkeeping responsibilities in the long-term.

Academy graduate Davies, 19, has long been regarded as the natural successor to Steve Rhodes, who retired from behind the stumps at the end of the 2004 campaign.

The Bromsgrove-born youngster made his first-class debut this season and is a genuine all-rounder with the ability to score runs at the top of the order.

Davies stole the gloves off Pipe for the current Frizzell County Championship fixture against Somerset after Worcestershire recalled the teenager from England U19 duty.

But the emergence of Davies has come at a bad time for Pipe after waiting patiently in Rhodes' shadow since making his County debut in 1998.

Newton said: "We have sat down and talked to James and we want to offer him a new contract at the end of the season. We want him to stay at the club."