Brett Lee to aid Ireland's WC prep

Brett Lee will join the Ireland team as their bowling coach during the warm-up phase of the World Cup, a Cricket Ireland release said.

Lee, who recently retired from all forms of cricket, was a valuable addition to Ireland's pre-tournament preparations, Phil Simmons, the Ireland coach, said. "Brett Lee has a wonderful knowledge of fast bowling, and his special insight of Australian pitches will help give our bowlers further confidence ahead of their group matches," Simmons said. "I'm sure all our bowlers will benefit from the experience that a World Cup winner has accumulated, especially in the pressure situations of a global event. It's a fantastic opportunity for our bowlers to learn from a living legend and one I'm sure they'll all benefit from."

Lee said he was looking forward to shring his expertise with younger players, from any team. "I have done work with the India cricket team, I have done work with the IPL, other players around the world," he said after launching ICC Pro Cricket 2015, the official World Cup game, which has been developed in association with Disney India. "I have done a lot of work with the Australian juniors and current Australian cricketers too. When I get an opportunity to help out the youngsters, it is my chance to further my skills in terms of assessing bowling methods and also to help me give back something to the game of cricket.

"I have played a lot of cricket but involvement with youngsters helps me improve, and also makes sure that I am well aware of what the juniors are doing and to keep in touch with the latest methods employed to further skills all around the world."

Ireland are scheduled to play two warm-up matches in Sydney - against Scotland on February 10 and against Bangladesh two days later - before their first match, against West Indies in Nelson.

Apart from the two official warm-up matches, Ireland are also scheduled to play a 50-over friendly against Randwick Petersham on Friday, February 6.