Anderson angry over World Twenty20 snub

England fast bowler James Anderson has revealed his anger at being left out of his country's ICC World Twenty20 winning squad, and thinks being rested for the tour of Bangladesh that preceded the tournament was part of the problem. Anderson was part of the 15-member squad for the Caribbean but was benched for all games.

"I suppose you have to take your hat off to the selectors, don't you?" he told the Express. "But it did take the wind out of my sails and I felt angry about being rested, because I felt that might have had something to do with it. I thought if I had gone there and gone to Abu Dhabi [for the warm-up mini-tour] it might have been different."

Not being picked during the World T20 has forced Anderson to re-evaluate where he stands in England's thinking. "I now have to work my way back into the team and unless they play only one spinner I can't see me starting," he said. "I admit it has changed my thoughts on where I am in the side.

"During the South Africa tour I felt I was becoming a key part of the team and now I don't feel like that. That said, I believe that if I had played in the World Twenty20 we would have still won. My self-belief remains intact."

He also feels the upcoming one-day series against Australia isn't necessary and believes the England players would be better served by playing country cricket. "I don't think there is a need for the ODIs but that is what the ECB wanted to do. For me it would be a perfect time to send the England players back to play for their counties, but it's out of our hands.

"That said, every series against the Aussies is huge and we are very hopeful it will be closer than the series we played after the Ashes last year."

England were demolished 6-1 in that series and Anderson admitted Australia's uncanny ability to keep producing new players makes it difficult to beat them. "They are a great side who keep bringing out these new players who just slot into the international scene. They keep churning out results, so we know it's going to be very hard for us.

"But any time you play Australia it's a big deal and we will be treating it like that. We also know if we get a good series win here it will give us extra confidence."