Anderson eager for IPL chance

James Anderson, the England pace bowler, wants to play in the Indian Premier League and has voiced his concerns about the limited opportunities for English players in the competition.

Anderson is currently the No. 2 bowler in the Test rankings but was overlooked in last year's IPL auction. He believes giving England's players the chance to play in the IPL would help their chances of defending their World Twenty20 title next year.

"I would like to play in the IPL," Anderson told the Manchester Evening News. "I got back into England's Twenty20 squad at the back end of the summer because of an injury to Stuart Broad, but I would like to get back into the side on a regular basis. I see the IPL as a way of showing I can play Twenty20 cricket and that's why I want to go out there."

The 2012 IPL season gets underway on April 5 with the county season set to begin a day later. However, a major issue for Anderson - and other England players - is that the closing stages of the IPL overlap the first two Tests of the summer against West Indies.

"The availability is obviously an issue and it is quite frustrating for us," he said. "We want to keep our position as world champions in Twenty20 cricket. The more Twenty20 cricket we play the better. This summer we only played three matches, how are we supposed to keep improving as a Twenty20 side when we only play three games?"

England players who have been involved with the IPL include Eoin Morgan, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011, Kevin Pietersen, who became the most expensive cricketer in the world in 2009 when he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $1.55million, and Ravi Bopara.

England will play four T20s next summer, one against the West Indies and three against South Africa. The World Twenty20 takes place in Sri Lanka from September 18 to October 7.