Former Australia paceman Ryan Harris has been named bowling coach for his nation’s tour of South Africa.
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Lehmann, the head coach, said he was excited to have Harris on board.
The 36-year-old had retired from the worldwide cricket on the eve of last year’s Ashes series due to a recurring knee injury and will now join head coach Darren Lehmann and newly-installed assistant coach David Saker for the ODI tour, featuring five matches against South Africa and one against Ireland.
Saker’s appointment as McDermott’s permanent replacement comes after Western Australia assistant Adam Griffith and South African legend Allan Donald filled the role of bowling coach for the recent tours of the Caribbean and Sri Lanka respectively.
“It’s great experience to learn from David Saker and Darren Lehmann, I’m really just going to sit back and watch and learn”, Harris said. “And, I would love to work with David as I look up to him as someone who can teach me something about the coaching role”.
“You’re always learning. With the playing side of things, I was always learning until the day I finished”, he added. Harris will join the Australian One Day team for bowling coach, which will kick off in the last week of September.
Lehmann welcomed the appointment of Harris, who is now the assistant coach of Australia’s national performance squad. “Coaching with Australia is something I want to do, whether that is now or in five years”, he had said then. Also, the likes of James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins and Peter Siddle all are sidelined due to injury.
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Australia’s tour of South Africa comprises one ODI against Ireland and five ODIs against South Africa, beginning on September 27.
