KABIR Ali will today turn to the Professional Cricketers’ Association as he looks to orchestrate a move away from Worcestershire.

The New Road club are expected to put out a statement today saying the 28-year-old strike bowler will be with the County until the end of next season.

However, the former Eng-land international, who has played one Test for his country, has his heart set on a move to Hampshire and wants Worcestershire to re-lease him from the final year of his contract.

The County, relegated from the LV Championship Divi-sion One, allowed Kabir until last night to explore his options, but stipulated that £60,000 compensation must be paid for his release.

Worcestershire’s prize asset has only held talks with the Rose Bowl side as he looks to find a way back into the England side.

Kabir has spent much of the past season on the sidelines with hamstring and back injuries respectively and re-jected a new three-year contract as the County tried in vain to persuade him to stay with the club.

But, despite his injury problems this year, the paceman, who has taken more than 400 first-class wickets for the County during his 10 years with the club, had hoped their could be an amicable parting of the ways.

The reluctance of Worces-tershire to find a compromise over the £60,000 means Kab-ir’s future is likely to be a long drawn-out affair.

With the deadline now past, he will now hope the players’ union, the PCA, whose chairman is Worcestershire skipper Vikram Solanki, can help him find a resolution.

Both parties will be keen to avoid a lengthy and costly legal battle.

Precedent puts the County in a strong position if the situation ends up in front of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

When John Crawley made the move from Lancashire to Hampshire in 2002, the player had to pay a substantial five-figure compensation fee to the Old Trafford club to re-lease him from his contract.