Shannon Gabriel's brief stint as an overseas player with Yorkshire looks to have come to a premature end with the West Indies quick left out of their squad for the County Championship match against Hampshire.
Gabriel was signed by Yorkshire to play three red-ball matches in July as a replacement for Pakistan star Haris Rauf. Rauf had picked up an impressive 15 wickets in four appearances and Yorkshire were hoping that Gabriel could add some much-needed firepower, with England international Matthew Fisher also out injured.
However, things have not gone to plan, with the 34-year-old taking just five wickets at an average of 44.40 in appearances against Surrey and Somerset. And the Daily Mail are reporting that it was Gabriel's slow over rate which lead to him being dropped for the Hampshire match.
Yorkshire were hit with a two-point penalty following their four-wicket defeat to Surrey after falling two overs behind the rate and the report states the club are 'wary of being penalised further'.
The exact structure of the County Championship next year remains up in the air, with Sir Andrew Strauss currently leading a high-performance review which could shape a potential restructure of the English game.
Although Yorkshire currently sit fifth in Division One, it is claimed they made the decision to drop Gabriel because 'they do not want to jeopardise their finishing position'.
The news comes mere weeks after Yorkshire's interim managing director of cricket Darren Gough said one of the reasons they signed Gabriel was because they wanted a bowler whose stint they could potentially extend "for the rest of the season"
"If he impresses, we have another four Championship games in which he could play," Gough said. "We will have a look at him and see how things go.
"He's a good performer. We had a few options, but someone of his quality who we could have for the rest of the season was the standout one of those."
