de Bruyn to leave County Ground early (From Bridgwater Mercury)

de Bruyn to leave County Ground early

8:12am Tuesday 7th September 2010 in

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SOMERSET have allowed South African all-rounder Zander de Bruyn to leave his contract with the county early.

35 year-old de Bruyn is heading home to South Africa to play for his hometown club - the Highveld Lions - in the T20 champions league.

The decision means that de Bruyn will miss Saturday's CB40 semi-final and Somerset's last two county championship matches - as well as the CB40 final should the Cidermen win on Saturday.

Somerset director of cricket Brian Rose said: "The club and the player are between a rock and a hard place. It's a tough decision but finally we came down on the side of the player."

Rose added: "The Lions pre-qualified for the Champions League and it's a very special occasion for a player. It may be a once-in-a-lifetime occasion for him and we didn't know if his heart or mind for the last ten days of the cricket season would be here".

Teenager Jos Buttler is expected to come into the side in de Bruyn's place.