Matthew Hoggard is looking for a new county after Yorkshire told the former England seam bowler that they would not be offering him a new contract.

After fifteen seasons at Headingley Carnegie, Hoggard described himself as “shocked” at the news, because he had recently been holding talks about the possibility of taking on the captaincy next season.

Yorkshire cited financial reasons for their decision to release a bowler who was their leading wicket-taker in the LV County Championship in 2009. The ECB is introducing age-related incentive payments for counties next season, encouraging them to pick more young players, which could make it harder for experienced players such as Hoggard, 32, to stay in the game. Nevertheless, several other counties are understood to have expressed an interest in signing him.

“I’m shocked and bitterly disappointed,” Hoggard told The Times. “I think I’ve been loyal to Yorkshire. I wanted to commit the rest of my career to the club and I’d have relished the thought of captaincy, which I had discussed with Colin Graves [the chairman] and Martyn Moxon [the director of cricket]. Now I’ve effectively been sacked and I’m not even going to play for Yorkshire again, which makes me incredibly sad.”

His release is the latest disappointment in a difficult time for the player since he appeared in the last of his 67 Tests for England in New Zealand in March 2008. With his county contract due to expire at the end of the 2009 season, Yorkshire had offered him a new deal this year.

As he had been frustrated at a lack of opportunities in one-day cricket, Hoggard had been considering his options, but he remained hopeful that an agreement would be reached at the end of the season. On Thursday, he was told by Moxon and Stewart Regan, the chief executive, that Yorkshire were now unable to offer him a new deal.

“What really upsets me is that I wasn’t given the chance in my final game to say goodbye to the Yorkshire supporters, who’ve been so good to me over the years,” Hoggard said. “Other players who knew that they weren’t going to be around next year were given a handshake and a send-off in front of the fans. All I got after 15 years at the club was a cup of coffee in the chief executive’s office.”

For followers of Yorkshire cricket, the news that the club have fallen out with another big-name player will have a depressingly familiar ring to it. Just four months ago, Michael Vaughan left the club in acrimonious circumstances. In recent years, other England players such as Darren Gough, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Silverwood have moved away from their native county. Before them, the likes of Brian Close and Raymond Illingworth left for other counties, determined to prove a point to the club.

Now Hoggard departs, having worn the white rose in 102 first-class matches since making his debut in 1996. In that time, he has taken 331 first-class wickets for the county at an average of 27.05, in addition to 248 Test wickets for England. In what proved to be his penultimate game for Yorkshire, he took a hat-trick that set them on the path to victory in a relegation decider against Sussex at Hove. He finished the season with 43 wickets as Yorkshire avoided the drop to the second division of the championship.

“I’m just going to have to look at other options now,” Hoggard said. “I was looking forward to using my experience to bring on the next generation of Yorkshire bowlers, but I’ll have to do that somewhere else now. I still feel as though I’ve got a good few years in me and it’s up to me now to prove that Yorkshire were wrong to let me go.”

Rose-tainted spectacles

Yorkshire have an unhappy tradition of parting with their international players on less than cordial terms

Ray Illingworth Left to become Leicestershire’s captain in 1969, leading his new county to their first championship in 1975

Brian Close The legendary captain left for Somerset in 1971, where he helped to nurture Ian Botham and Viv Richards in their formative years

Darren Gough The cavalier fast bowler left for Essex when David Byas, his roundhead nemesis, became director of cricket. Gough returned as captain in 2007

Michael Vaughan Vaughan was denied the chance to play a farewell one-day game at Headingley in June because “the hype wouldn’t be in the team’s best interests”