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County news

No Jayawardene for Derbyshire

Cricinfo staff

April 16, 2008

Mahela Jayawardene will not feature for Derbyshire this season owing to fixture clashes, the county has announced. Fans will be disappointed but perhaps not surprised after an already short stint was squeezed further by international demands.

Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, had planned to arrive after the Indian Premier League but with the Asia Cup being moved forward to June and changes to India's tour of Sri Lanka, there was too little time to make even a shortened contract worthwhile, the county said.

"This is obviously a disappointment but the landscape of cricket worldwide is changing very rapidly," said Derbyshire's chief executive Tom Sears, "and we are forced to accept that. Unfortunately circumstances have changed in recent weeks."

John Morris, the head of cricket, added: "It is a shame that Mahela won't be coming this year but we took the sensible option of securing Chris Rogers' services some weeks ago and he will play as our overseas player."

Morris said that Derbyshire may look to bring someone in specifically for the Twenty20 Cup if Rogers does not play the whole season. "That is something we will decide together in the coming weeks.

"We have left things on a very positive note with Mahela and there is a strong possibility we will look at him coming to Derbyshire at some stage in the future."

Jayawardene said: "I was really looking forward to playing for Derbyshire this season and I am very disappointed that the dates did not work this time. I wish the club success during the coming season and hope that one day I will be able to play for them."

© Cricinfo