Northants release Penberthy

Northamptonshire have announced that Tony Penberthy, their vice-captain, will not be offered a new contract at the end of the season.

"Tony has made a major contribution to Northamptonshire cricket over many years," said John Scopes, the county's cricket committee chairman. "Sadly, he has suffered from a series of leg injuries and these have severely restricted his availability. At the end of the day, it was felt the club couldn't make a commitment to him until he had proved his fitness over a lengthy period in competitive cricket."

Penberthy made his debut for Northamptonshire in 1989 (bagging a pair against the touring Australians) and in almost 200 matches scored 7212 runs at 30.05 and took 231 wickets at 39.18. This season he has appeared once in the Championship and twice in the National League.