NICK FRIEND: The county have already secured Zafar Gohar and Marcus Harris as overseas players for the 2023 County Championship season
Gloucestershire are keen to arrange a T20 Blast return for Glenn Phillips, who has impressed in two separate stints with the county.
The New Zealander has passed fifty on seven occasions in 25 matches over two years in the Blast, including two scores of 94 not out against Glamorgan and Sussex on consecutive days. He averages 44.21 in the competition and is 160 runs short of 1,000 for Gloucestershire.
On Friday, he played a crucial part in clinching his country's ODI series victory over Pakistan with an unbeaten half century.
He has been retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad for this year's Indian Premier League despite not featuring in the 2022 competition.
"He's really keen to come back," said Steve Snell, Gloucestershire's performance director. "It's just looking at the whole international workload – that's generally a sticking point, so I can't say anything too definitive at this stage. That calendar is so chocked – last year, Glenn was at the IPL and he was raring to play for us because he hadn't played any cricket, after being sat on the bench for a period of time."
Gloucestershire have otherwise finalised most of their plans for the 2023 summer, with Australian opener Marcus Harris and Pakistani spinner Zafar Gohar both returning as red-ball overseas players. A backup plan is in place, Snell told The Cricketer, should Harris be part of Australia's Ashes plans.
Phillips averages 44.21 in the T20 Blast (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
"We do have a contingency in place for that, lined up without agreement," he said. "But equally, from Marcus' perspective, we're really hopeful that he is in the Ashes because it would be a great opportunity for him to play in what is going to be a hell of a series."
On the T20 front, neither a possible deal for Phillips nor a second overseas player have been confirmed yet. Last year, Gloucestershire opted for Phillips and an international fast bowler, with Naseem Shah and Mohammad Amir sharing the load.
They have since added former South Africa fast bowler Marchant de Lange as a local player, however, which might free up Gloucestershire to strengthen in a different area, particularly following the departures of Ian Cockbain, the county's all-time leading run-scorer in the competition, and the all-round talents of Ryan Higgins and Benny Howell.
"We're exploring some options for T20 at the moment, so nothing is signed and sealed," added Snell. "But that's looking promising.
"From a domestic player perspective, there will be no movement in that regard at this time."
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