ANTHONY McGRATH, Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid could all be involved in the next edition of the Indian Premier League in March.

The Yorkshire trio have expressed an interest to play in the mega rich Twenty20 competition.

McGrath and Bresnan will go into the auction on January 19 in Mumbai, but Rashid is only on the reserve list in case of injury or international call-ups.

The likes of Jonathan Trott, Graeme Swann and Eoin Morgan are also in the mix for a contract.

But the Yorkshire trio will only be allowed to go to the sub-continent on the condition they are back at Headingley on April 2 in time for the start of the English county season a week later.

The news of their potential appearances in the IPL may come as somewhat of a surprise – but a contract for either McGrath or Bresnan may not be out of the question seen as they have strong links with ex-Tyke Darren Lehmann, who coaches the Deccan Chargers.

IPL chief Lalit Modi was ready to ditch nine English players from the next auction a week on Tuesday because the ECB would not agree to his request that all the players were available for the full duration of the competition.

With a tour to Bangladesh in March and the World Twenty20 starting in early May, it was always going to be unlikely that any England player would be available from March 12 to April 25.

And, after pressure from England’s domestic board, Modi has agreed that the players can play under the same terms as those who featured in 2009.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket, said: “They have put their names forward on the proviso that they are back with us ready for the start of our season.

“There are two ways of looking at this. One is that, as individuals, there is the financial side of it as well as the improvement it could bring to their games. That may also help us as we build up to Twenty20.

“But the negative side is that they would not be available to us as we go through our pre-season preparations.

Having said that, Brez and Adil may not be involved in that anyway due to England’s tour of Bangladesh.”

Yorkshire will travel to Barbados for their two-week pre-season tour on March 14, two days after the start of the IPL.