Essex have turned down the chance to sign Surrey and England all-rounder Rikki Clarke.

Clarke, 26, an Essex man by birth, is also being linked with the captaincy role at Derbyshire.

But Essex head coach Paul Grayson revealed that the player was made available to us'.

He said: "Clarke was a name that was thrown at us, but we feel that we've already got two talented all-rounders in Ryan ten Doeschate and Graham Napier, who are every bit as good as him and can do a job for us.

"Furthermore, if I told you what Clarke wanted you would understand why we didn't go for him.

"His demands weren't necessarily financial. They were more cricket related," Grayson stressed.

Could this mean Clarke, a Surrey regular for the past five seasons and capped twice by England at Test level and 20 times in One-Day Internationals, was seeking the Essex captaincy, a certain spot in the starting line-up and/or an early benefit?

Meanwhile, Grayson said that having already snapped up experienced former England opener Jason Gallian (Nottinghamshire) and strike-bowling duo David Masters (Leicestershire) and Chris Wright (Middlesex), Essex are not panicking to sign anyone else quickly'.

"Ideally we would like to bring in another good batter and fast bowler, but the guys we want have got to be better than we've already got," he said.