Maunders And Westfield Released By Essex

Essex have announced that opening batsman John Maunders, 29, and fast bowler Mervyn Westfield, 22, have left the club and are looking for new counties for the new season.

Maunders has had an injury-hit season, having joined Essex in 2008 having previously played for Leicestershire and Shropshire. The former England Under-19 player scored 150 for Essex against his former club Leicestershire in 2009 while his last first-class appearance came against Nottinghamshire in July.

Westfield is also a former England Under-19 representative and came through the county's academy system, making his debut in 2005, going on to play just seven first-class matches and eight one-day games.

“It has come to that time of year once again, it is always a tough time of year," head coach Paul Grayson said about the departures.

"John (Maunders) has nearly reached the age of 30, he has unfortunately been injury prone this season and has been limited to a few county championship appearances. He needed to be scoring runs, and that has not been the case so it is time for us both to move on. John is currently looking at other avenues of employment."
 
Talking about Westfield, he added: “It is a huge disappointment that it has come to this; for the past few years we had high hopes for Merv (Mervyn) to become a big name in cricket. He has received a lot of guidance from our players and coaches and he has not progressed as we would have hoped. Mervyn is keen to stay in the game and we wish him every success in finding another county to play for."

“All of us at Essex Cricket would like to thank both players for their contribution and wish them well in their future careers."

© Cricket World 2010