Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace has revealed why Ali Orr left the club.
Supporters were shocked and disappointed to see the 22-year-old batsman head to Hampshire this week.
He had one year remaining on his Sussex contract but had asked for a new deal.
Farbrace recognised he had “a clash” with Orr during a game against Derbyshire last season but said that had been sorted.
He also revealed Sussex were prepared to extend Orr’s contract but could not afford the requested pay rise.
Farbrace said: “I have no bad feeling towards Ali.
“His agent wanted to increase his contract.
“I said we were happy to lengthen it for two years on top of the one he had left, but we haven’t got the funds to increase the salary.
“As a result, we gave him a ten-day window to see if he could find something else and, in that window, he found a contract with Hampshire.
“We have since negotiated compensation with Hampshire.
“We don’t want to lose him. We want him to open in all forms of the game but we cannot improve his terms, because we don’t have the finances to do that.
“We could have made him crack on for another season but I didn’t think that was the right thing for Ali, or the club.
“You could have a player for two months thinking about getting to June 1 and talking to other clubs.
“That is not a great place to be for either party.”
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