Somerset have released all-rounder Wes Durston.

The 29-year-old's contract is not being renewed by the club because they could not foresee him featuring much next season.

Durston's hopes of being retained were raised by two eye-catching innings in the Champions League in India after Marcus Trescothick returned home following a recurrence of his stress-related condition.

But that form was not enough to save batsman/off-spinner Durston, who will now have to look elsewhere if he wishes to continue a professional career that began with a bang in 2002.

Director of cricket Brian Rose said: "Personally, I found it a very difficult decision.

"But I think with the opinions I had from the captain (Trescothick) and the coaches, it would have been unlikely that he would have played much cricket in the first-team in 2010.

"In the last two or three years he has played very rarely for the first team, even though his performances in the second team have been fine."

Durston's first-class debut came against West Indies A at Taunton when he scored 55 from 44 balls. But he was only a first-team regular in the 2006 season, when he made 13 first-class appearances.

Despite an impressive career average of 38.35, his only hundred was his 146 not out at Derby in 2005.

A one-day average of 30.70 was also respectable and he helped Somerset CCC win the Twenty20 Cup in 2005.

"His run-out of Andrew Symonds in the final against Lancashire was brilliant and helped us win the game," added Rose.

"In the Champions League, he came in at short notice and played very well but we felt he was unlikely to play much next year."

With batsman Nick Compton signed up from Middlesex, Durston was unlikely to feature much in the first team even if he had been retained, and his departure means teenagers Jos Buttler and Chris Jones will be next in line for batting spots.