STEPHEN Peters has made it clear -- he wants to stay at Wor-cestershire and did not ask for permission to contact rival counties.

The 26-year-old opening batsman is upset at suggestions that he favours a move from New Road, insisting he intends to fight for his place and fulfil his contract that expires next summer.

It has been the rockiest season for Peters since arriving from his native Essex in 2002. He lost his County senior place after a poor run of form and, despite scoring a mountain of runs in the second team, failed to convince Worcestershire selectors of a worthy return to the side.

Although he harbours dissatisfaction at being given too few opportunities to prove his case, Peters is not seeking a move.

"I have never asked for permission to speak to other clubs," explains Peters. "Actually, the club said to me that I can speak to other clubs. I did not ask for permission.

"That was in a meeting two months ago. I was pretty disappointed by that, because it meant I was not viewed as a future member of the side.

"I want to put the record straight. My contract at Worcestershire runs until the end of next season and that is where I'm at. I'm in my fourth year at the club and I absolutely love it here.

"Even this year, despite what has happened, I've enjoyed it. I love the guys in the dressing room, the last thing I want to do is leave."

Peters' campaign began brightly, scoring 55 and 39no in the 10-wicket County Championship win at Derbyshire. However, a total of 88 runs in his following 10 first-class innings prompted his relegation to the second-string, while academy graduate Steven Davies took his place in the top order.

Only once did Peters land a recall to the starting side in the four-day game, in last month's innings triumph over Somerset, and that proved frustrating for the right-hander.

He added: "By all means, I had a poor start. I had four or five games where I was done by early-season new ball dismissals. The ball nipped around and I missed out on a bit of luck to get runs.

"My rough trot was five games. Really, that's an average period of time for a player in a rough trot. Ben Smith had four or five games like that early in the season and then turned it around at Essex. He has not looked back since and that's what I think could have happened to me.

"I scored heavily in the Seconds and did everything I could. To be fair, I only got back into the side against Somerset because of injuries.

"A disappointing factor for me was that the club felt that things were so bad from their point of view that they had to make do with Vikram Solanki as a makeshift opener for one or two games.

"When I've been an opening batsman at Worcestershire for the last few years, that was disappointing."

With one Championship match remaining this summer, Peters is not expecting to figure again as Stephen Moore and overseas star Chris Gayle remain Worcestershire's opening pair. He is now looking forward, although uncertain which path his future will take.

Peters said: "I really want to do well at Worcestershire. It is my career and my job. I need to be playing. I don't enjoy second team cricket because I've done all that."