Sinclair misses out on Tasmania

Mathew Sinclair has missed out on joining Australian state side Tasmania due to him not being able to fit into the player payments pool.

Sinclair contacted the Tasmanian Cricket Association directly in seeking a contract for next season, and while the chief executive David Johnston was seriously interested in him, the funds were not available for Sinclair to fit into the player payments pool.

Sinclair has been considering his options after missing out on a New Zealand Cricket contract for the 2005/06 playing year, and has also been in talks with South African domestic side Eastern Province.

NZC are set to release the 20 contracted players for the 2006/07 year this coming Thursday. While it would be expected that Sinclair would be awarded a contract after being named the domestic batsman of the year last season after averaging 51.64 in the State Shield, he is likely to be at the bottom end of the pay scale earning a retainer of only $45,000.

Sinclair averages 36.89 in Tests and 28.09 in ODIs and last played for New Zealand on February 22nd 2005 against Australia where he scored 15.