Six counties are chasing the signature of Mark Ramprakash after Middlesex agreed to release him yesterday.

When Ramprakash originally asked to leave Lord's last November, he was strongly linked with Surrey and they remain the favourites to sign him.

But Essex, Somerset, Kent, Lancashire and Warwickshire have also made official approaches to the 31-year-old.

However, Surrey chief executive Paul Sheldon has said the club will not break their wage structure to secure Ramprakash. He told The Times: "We would not be prepared to offer more than our salary levels allow, but it is very unusual for a batsman of this calibre to become available, so of course we are very interested."

Ramprakash still has hopes of resurrecting his 42-cap England career but believes that playing in the second division with Middlesex did not help his ambitions.

Last season he hit more than 1,000 County Championship runs at an average of 64, including four centuries and six fifties, but he fears that England's selectors might have been swayed because he was up against second division opposition.

He has played for Middlesex since 1987 and was awarded his county cap in 1990. He has 47 first-class centuries to his name and five double hundreds. Last year he was awarded a benefit by the club.

Middlesex said they took the decision to release Ramprakash reluctantly but they had no choice. Secretary Vinny Codrington said: "The club had very little option as Mark showed his determination to leave.

"The club could have held him to the final year of his contract, but to have an unhappy player in the dressing room was something that [captain] Angus Fraser and the committee felt was not appropriate."

Codrington said he had spoken to chairman of selectors David Graveney who had assured him that they looked at all 18 first-class counties when considering players, not just first division teams.

Ramprakash's request clearly upset officials at Lord's. Codrington said: "There were some on the committee who were particularly disappointed as Mark had indicated to the cricket chairman [Phil Edmonds] at the end of the 2000 season that he would like a three-year contract rather than a two-year extension, which is what he was being offered. We agreed to that request.

"There was also considerable disappointment that he had put in a request to leave the county during his benefit year. Although Mark stated that the benefit year was for services past and not for future loyalty, the committee were still very disappointed with this attitude."

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