PADIHAM's Mark Harvey has been told that Lancashire will not stand in his way if he is wanted by another county next season.

The 25-year-old has not played for the first team since the pre-season friendly at Cambridge University and even though he still has another year of his contract to run, Lancashire have told him that he may be better off looking elsewhere.

"It's the same scenario we had with Nick Speak a few years ago," explained Old Trafford cricket secretary Dave Edmundson.

"Mark is still under contract with us but if he was to get another club, we wouldn't want to stand in his way because of the limited opportunities here at Lancashire."

Harvey made his Lancash ire debut way back in 1994 but in the subsequent five seasons he has only added five more first class appearances, three in the Sunday League and one in the NatWest Trophy - when he won the man of the match award against Berkshire.

His opportunities were limited at first because he was studying at Loughborough University, but since he left two years ago the emergence of Andy Flintoff and Mark Chilton have limited the opportunities for batmen such as Harvey, Nathan Wood and Paddy McKeown.

The example of peak is an encouraging one as he has enjoyed himself since joining Durham and is expected to be named their captain next year.

Durham and Derbyshire, who picked up Steve Titchard from Lancashire last year and are again on the lookout for new batsmen following the departures of Michael Slater and Tim Tweats, would be the most likely counties for Harvey to join.

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