Jennings coaches Lions for Pro20

	Ray Jennings will try and help the Lions out of their slump © Getty Images

Ray Jennings, the South Africa Under-19 coach, has been allowed the join the Lions franchise as their coach for the forthcoming Pro20 tournament.

Jennings, who coached the national side between 2004 and 2005, is also part of the National Academy but Cricket South Africa (CSA) have approved the "unprecedented" move "in the national cricketing interest."

The Lions finished bottom of the MTN Domestic Championship with just three wins from 10 matches and Alan Kourie, their CEO, said a fresh approach was needed. "It was felt that the Lions needed a change of direction and so we approached CSA to second Ray Jennings for the Pro20 Series.

"We are most grateful to CSA for granting our request. We believe he can add an enormous amount of value to our squad and help turn the tide".

Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, said: "This is unprecedented, but we felt that it would be in the national cricketing interest to have Ray coach a number of exciting young players in the Lions setup in this form of the game.

"Ray is particularly good at coaching promising youngsters, as can be seen by the success of South Africa reaching the finals of the U-19 World Cup," he added. "We have discussed the matter with the other franchises and they accept that this is a move in the national interest. It will also not interfere with his CSA coaching duties."

Jennings believes this a good opportunity for him to expand his coaching on the first-class stage. "I have accepted this one-off secondment by CSA because it falls between the recent U-19 World Cup and my duties as a National Academy coach. It will also provide me with another opportunity to face the coaching challenges of first-class cricket, which will add to my value as a CSA coach."