Toby Peirce was refreshingly candid as he contemplated a future outside cricket this week, admitting: "I gave it my best shot, but I wasn't good enough."

The 27-year-old had opened the innings for Sussex in every Championship match since July 1997.

But when he lost his place for the current game against Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay, Peirce had an inkling that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season.

Coach Peter Moores confirmed those fears when the pair met at Hove on Monday and both Peirce and fellow left-hander Wasim Khan had their contracts, which were due to expire at the end of next month, paid up five weeks early.

But while Khan actively seeks his third county, Peirce is contemplating a career outside the game.

He will shortly be taking wine trade exams and is looking at the possibility of starting up an export and import business.

Peirce took a year out of the game in 1996 to work in the city. He came back with his appetite for the game restored a year later and, for a time, it looked as if he might settle down to make the opener's spot his own.

Last season he shared in five century stands with Richard Montgomerie and averaged nearly 30, making the second of his two centuries in a career best 123 against Glamorgan as well as six fifties.

But this season Peirce has made just two half-centuries and Moores and skipper Chris Adams have seemingly lost patience with his inability to play more expansively once he has seen the shine off the new ball. To be honest I've seen it coming for a while," he said. "Now it has happened it is something of a relief. I tried my nuts off, but I just wasn't good enough.

"Sussex gave me a chance which I'll always be grateful for and I did as well as I could. Unfortunately I couldn't do it well enough.

"I've no regrets. Cricket has given me a helluva kicking at times and I won't miss some aspects of the game. But it's also given me a lot of great memories and the chance to meet my wife.

"I'll miss all the friends I've made. The dressing room spirit which you become part of is a fantastic environment."