Sussex are facing a battle to keep hold of opening batsman Luke Wells.

Wells has yet to sign a new contract at Hove with the situation alerting a number of other counties to his potential availability.

Coach Mark Robinson remains hopeful that the left-hander will commit his future to Sussex but admits the ball is firmly in the player’s court.

Robinson said: “We want Luke to stay but it is a case of Luke wanting to stay and agreeing to sign a contract.

“That is an ongoing situation at the moment but the season only finished last Friday and these things can take time.

“Luke is a good player but the challenge for him is to kick on. We feel he should be challenging for international honours and Lions tours but he needs to find more consistency.

“We believe in him and hopefully Luke will decide to stay so he can achieve his goals at Sussex.”

Steve Magoffin is the only one of the seven out-of-contract players to sign a new deal to stay at Hove.

The Australian completed the paperwork yesterday which will keep him at the club until at least the end of the 2016 season.

Jon Lewis has been released but Ben Brown, Will Beer, Steffan Piolet and Callum Jackson are all expected to remain at the club.