Lancashire head coach Glen Chapple is to join England Lions as fast-bowling coach for the red-ball section of their West Indies tour this spring.
Chapple replaces Jon Lewis, the Sussex assistant head coach who had been due to continue with the Lions after working with the fast bowlers at their training camp in Australia before Christmas, until he was appointed as England head coach for the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.
Chapple adds to the strong Lancashire presence in the Lions squads for four-day and one-day series against West Indies A.
Keaton Jennings, who joined them from Durham at the end of last season, has been appointed captain for the whole tour, and will be joined in the squad for the three-match four-day series by Haseeb Hameed, Liam Livingstone, Alex Davies and Saqib Mahmood.
Hameed and Chapple will then return to Lancashire in early March, but leg-spinner Matt Parkinson will join the Lions for the three-match one-day series in Antigua.
Andy Flower, the Lions head coach, said: “Jon Lewis’s appointment for the Under-19s World Cup left us in need of a fast bowling coach for the West Indies, and we are delighted that Glen Chapple has agreed to join us.
“Glen has worked on the Pathway before with the Pace Programme, and is now establishing himself as a head coach at Lancashire, who already have a strong playing representation in our squads.
“I’m looking forward to working with him over the next few weeks, and as ever we are grateful to his county employers for giving him the opportunity to work with us.”
Chapple said: “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to go out and work with the Lions for the upcoming tour.
“It’s an exciting prospect to work with Head Coach Andy Flower and assisting with the coaching of some of the most talented young cricketers in England.”
Paul Allott, Lancashire’s Director of Cricket, added: “We are delighted that Glen has been given this opportunity with the Lions to further develop his coaching skills throughout the winter.
“We fully encourage all of our coaching staff to work in different environments and increase their knowledge and experience so that they can improve and bring back new ideas to Lancashire.”
The Lions coaching staff for the West Indies also includes the ECB’s spin-bowling and wicketkeeping leads, Peter Such and Bruce French, in addition to the former Surrey and England captain Adam Hollioake.
Chapple will join the squads for a five-day training camp at the Desert Springs Resort in Spain before their departure for Jamaica on 31 January.