Phillips Signs For Another Year

25 October 2011

Tim Phillips will remain an Essex player in 2012.

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Essex left-arm spinner Tim Phillips has signed a new one-year contract with the club.

The 30 year-old, who was born in Cambridge and represented Durham University, enjoyed a prolific Friends Life t20 campaign that saw him take 26 wickets at an average of 13, but, like the team, he endured a frustrating time of things in the County Championship resulting in him being replaced in the side by young leg-spinner Tom Craddock.

“I’m very excited to have signed the new contract with Essex,” said Phillips. “Next season is going to be a big year for Essex and I want to be part of it. We had an indifferent season in 2011 but hopefully we can show the Essex crowd what we are capable of and perform to our ability.

“Personally, I had a strong campaign in one-day cricket, especially in the Twenty20. I will take this into 2012 to help the team improve the consistency and I’m sure we can go further in all formats of the game to improve how we did this season.”

It is likely that Phillips would have been offered a longer contract if it were not for his poor form in the longer form of the game, something that Essex head coach Paul Grayson alluded to when speaking about the news.

He said, “Tim has had a very successful one-day season and he now needs to push on with his four-day cricket. He made a massive contribution to the one-day squad, which was very good to see, and we are delighted he has signed a further one-year extension to his contract.”

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