Hampshire are trying to persuade batting prodigy John Francis that his future is at the Rose Bowl.

Francis is out of contract at the end of this season and Somerset, who are coached by former Hampshire players Kevin Shine and Mark Garaway, have already been linked with the left-handed batsman.

For Loughborough University graduate Francis, the prospect of playing a first full season of county cricket while based at Taunton, the most batter friendly ground in the country, would be a tempting one.

His elder brother Simon signed for Somerset after being released by Hampshire two years ago but 22-year-old John has long been seen as being a part of the county's future.

After yesterday's 45-run National League defeat against Lancashire, manager Paul Terry said: "Of course we want to keep John Francis, he's a very good player, but that's all I want to say about it."

Hampshire will surely fight tooth and nail to keep Francis but it remains to be seen whether the left hander, who made 23 yesterday, has played his last game at the Rose Bowl for the county.

He said: "We've got talks coming up, it's just a case of sitting down and talking with Tim and Paul about my future. There have always been rumours about me going to Somerset since my brother went there.

"It's just a case of family connections really. I've had to listen to them over and over again but we'll see what happens this week."

Francis has scored 733 first class runs for Hampshire, who he has played for since he was a schoolboy, at an average of 24.33. His top score remains the 82 he made at Leicestershire in his first game of last season.

This year he has a disappointing aggregate of 211 runs at 19.18 but has played just six championship matches, missing the last two, including a defeat at Taunton, because he has been suffering with shingles.

Hampshire hope to make an announcement on out of contract players by the end of the week but director of cricket Tim Tremlett may wait until after the weekend.