Alan Butcher had three seasons in charge of the Surrey team

Alan Butcher has left Surrey after they were relegated to Division Two in the County Championship.

Surrey's Mark Ramprakash confirmed the cricket manager would not be there for the 2009 season.

After rumours that he had been sacked on Monday night, Butcher himself refused to comment when contacted by BBC Sport on Wednesday morning.

But Ramprakash wrote in his Telegraph column: "The departure of Alan Butcher as coach has left a power vacuum."

It is understood that second team coach Nadeem Shahid and bowling coach Geoff Arnold are also on their way out.

Butcher first represented Surrey as a player in 1972. He became Surrey's coach in 2006, the year after their previous relegation.

But like his predecessor Steve Rixon, he fell a long way short of replicating the club's hugely successful run at the turn of the century under captain Adam Hollioake and coach Keith Medlycott.

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They also finished bottom of their Twenty20 division, second bottom in their Friends Provident Trophy division and fifth in the second division of the Pro40.

Ramprakash said: "I feel a lot of sympathy with Alan because he always treated the players with the utmost respect but his departure can be seen as an opportunity for the club to bring in somebody from outside the Surrey network."

There is also a question mark over the future of Butcher's 36-year-old son, Mark, the former England batsman.

He missed most of the season with a knee injury that may require a second operation in the winter, but he is thought to be keen to carry on as captain.

Meanwhile, Graham Thorpe is in the running to take a new job as Surrey's batting coach, while Chris Adams, having recently stepped down as Sussex captain, is a leading candidate to replace Butcher senior.

Surrey chief executive Paul Sheldon was unavailable for comment.