Trio leave Kent

Kent have lost three senior figures in a turbulent day for the Canterbury club.

Director of cricket Paul Farbrace has resigned after two years in the job, while leading batsmen Martin van Jaarsveld and Joe Denly have opted to leave the county as well.

South African veteran Van Jaarsveld requested to leave his contract a year early and has signed for Leicestershire, while former England Twenty20 opener Denly has agreed a deal with Middlesex.

Reflecting on Farbrace's departure, Kent chairman George Kennedy said: "I thank Paul for all of his hard work for the club. I am personally extremely sorry to see him leave, and wish him well as he moves on. It has been a challenging period for the club and Paul has worked with great commitment to deliver results."

The hole in the batting line-up may be even harder to fill.

Van Jaarsveld has 110 first-class appearances for the club under his belt, scoring 8,028 runs at 46.67 as well as 5,431 limited-overs runs.

The former Proteas batsman said: "I would like to thank everyone at Kent for the opportunity I have been given in county cricket over the last seven seasons."

Denly was an academy graduate who went on to score 4,658 first-class runs in 79 matches as well as earning an England call in 2009.

Announcing his departure, the 25-year-old said: "A large part of me is very sad to be leaving Kent. As a local lad who's come through the system I expected to play my whole career here.

"This is an important stage of my career, however, and I'm really excited about the move to Middlesex, who are a club on the up as shown by their recent promotion to Division One of the Championship."