Essex all-rounder Graham Napier is moving closer to tying up a deal that would see him playing in the Indian Premier League with Mumbai Indians and possibly missing the first seven weeks of the domestic season.

“I am getting closer to finalising a deal to sign for Mumbai Indians to play in the IPL although Mumbai are still in the process of agreeing my release from Essex for the duration of the competition but hopefully that will all be agreed soon,” he revealed.

Progress of that arrangement can be followed on Napier’s website, grahamnapier.com.

The Colchester-born player has spent much of the winter playing in New Zealand for Wellington in addition to playing club cricket.

As a hard-hitting batsman and incisive new ball bowler, Napier was always going to be a target for the IPL after his record breaking 152 not out in the Twenty20 Cup against Sussex last year and his prowess in the shortest form of the game has opened up opportunities on three fronts to potentially secure a place in the lucrative Champions League later this year.

“If things go to plan there is a chance I could be representing three teams in domestic Twenty20 competitions over the next few months – all with ambitions of reaching the inaugural Champions League,” he explained.

“An extra incentive for winning New Zealand’s Twenty20 competition is the possibility that it might earn that side a place in the Champions League towards the end of the year,” the 29 year-old stated.

“Nobody is 100 per cent sure whether that will be the case but it nevertheless gives me another possibility of reaching that prestigious tournament should Essex not get there.”