Nottinghamshire have decided not to bring Vernon Philander back to the club to replace Ben Hilfenhaus.

A hip injury forced the Australian to leave Trent Bridge and return home and Philander would have been a possible option to return to take over the overseas spot once South Africa’s two-match Test series in Bangladesh ends in the first week in August. He left  Nottinghamshire earlier than anticipated after being recalled by Cricket South Africa in late May so that he could attend the CSA awards ceremony.

However, they the club have decided that his contribution was not emphatic enough: he took 16 wickets from five matches at an average of 24 at the start of the season for Notts, they have decided to look elsewhere.

Director of cricket Mick Newell said: ‘It’s not as if there are a lot of good players available who aren’t involved in international cricket.

‘We’ve had agents offering us players and we’re in the process of looking through them.

‘We want to add someone who has experience, but primarily we need a wicket-taker. We’d certainly be open to considering a spin bowler when you look at the games we have left.’