THE Irish cricketers got a nice surprise as they jetted off to Sri Lanka yesterday to prepare for the ICC World Twenty 20 which starts in two weeks.

The team got the news that Australian legend Craig McDermott would be joining the party in Colombo as fast bowling coach.

“That’s fantastic news”, said Trent Johnston.

“He’ll be invaluable for guys like Max Sorensen but even at my stage I can learn from someone like Craig, especially as he was up to recently Australia’s bowling coach.

“As a kid I always wanted to be Malcolm Marshall when we played in the street.

“But if I couldn’t be him I always picked Craig McDermott.”

The team were seen off at a function hosted by sponsors RSA at Croke Park.

Sports minister Leo Varadkar said: “I was delighted to be able to support the Irish cricket team at the World Cup last year in India. With their great performances at that World Cup, and most memorably their victory over England, they firmly established themselves as belonging at cricket’s top table.”

McDermott said: “I am looking forward to working with Phil and his team at the World T20 in Sri Lanka.

“Ireland has done well in the past World Cups and I am sure they will do again at this one. They have a well balance squad and I am looking forward to getting stuck into preparing them for the World T20 in our training camp in Colombo.”

Ireland’s opening game will be against Australia in Colombo on Wednesday September 19. Five days later Ireland take on West Indies.

Squad: William Porterfield (captain, Warwickshire), Alex Cusack (Clontarf), George Dockrell (Somerset), Trent Johnston (YMCA), Nigel Jones (CSN), Ed Joyce (Sussex), Tim Murtagh (Middlesex), Kevin O’Brien (Railway Union), Niall O’Brien (Northants), Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire), Paul Stirling (Middlesex), Max Sorensen (The Hills), Stuart Thompson (Limavady), Andrew White (Instonians), Gary Wilson (Surrey).