Northamptonshire have confirmed Chaminda Vaas has been released from the rest of his contract.
The Sri Lankan fast bowler will not finish the season at Wantage Road having suffered an injury-hit and unproductive campaign so far.
A veteran of 111 Test matches for his country Vaas, who turned 38 earlier this year, has been unable to match the high standards he set last summer in winning the County’s player-of-the year-award.
His 70 first-class wickets at 21.44 in 2011 contrast starkly with the six victims - at a cost of nearly 47 each - he has picked up this season.
And chief executive David Smith paid tribute to Vaas’ contribution to the club.
He said: “It’s important that we remember what Chaminda has done for us in his time here.
“He did a good job in the Twenty20 in 2010 and made an important contribution to the promotion push in the Championship last season.
“He’s been an excellent servant and it’s just a shame that it has ended through injury.
“We were lucky to have him here as that quality of overseas player isn’t around that often anymore.”
The County will not be seeking anyone to replace him as the club’s overseas player for the rest of this campaign and Smith admitted that the search for a replacement hasn’t started yet.
He added: “We haven’t got that far yet.
“We’re looking at retention and recruitment of players and we’re trying to make the best use of our cricket budget.
“That means looking at the squad overall and it will come down to who is out there and who is available.
“It might be that the type of player David (Ripley) wants is english rather than overseas but we’ll look at that at the appropriate time.”