The moves reflect the club's increasing dissatisfaction at a series of poor championship seasons. They have not won a major title since 1991.

Ormrod, 55, the former Lancashire and Worcestershire player, was previously senior coach for two years with Notts.

Northamptonshire have expressed their extreme disappointment at last week's decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board's pitches advisory group to dock them the maximum penalty of 25 points because of the sub-standard pitch at Wantage Road after the county had beaten Sussex in three days.

The club have accepted the verdict of the official report which said that the surface of the wicket ``displayed uneven bounce and excessive turn''. The same strip had been used nine days earlier for an AXA League game and the board report said there had been ``no re-preparation and no watering or rolling had taken place'' in the interim.

But after a meeting of the county's general committee, chief executive Steve Coverdale explained that the final decision on which pitch to use was taken by their chief coach John Emburey after he had examined the ones made available by head groundsman David Bates.

``Emburey made an honest and quite proper decision that of those available this was the pitch to the best standard for the game,'' Coverdale added. ``The club are pleased to note that the panel accepted the fact that while it was hoped to produce a pitch on which spinners would play an increasing part as the game progressed, there was no intention whatsoever to produce a sub-standard pitch.''

Brighter news for Northants came yesterday with the decision of the Professional Cricketers' Association to pick Mal Loye as their player of the year. Loye, however, has still not accepted the county's offer of a three-year contract and says he is unhappy at some aspects of the way the club are being run. Lancashire's Andrew Flintoff was chosen as young cricketer of the season.

Sussex have received planning permission to instal permanent floodlights, expected to cost £180,000.