Michael Hussey, Ryan Harris join Australia support staff

Ahead of the T20I series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Australia added former players Micheal Hussey and Ryan Harris to their coaching staff.

Hussey is appointed as a mentor, while Harris will take over as the team's bowling coach, replacing Troy Cooley, who was in charge during the Ashes series in England earlier this year, ICC reported.

Australia's preparation for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 at home begins with the back-to-back three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka and later Pakistan, the first of which begins on October 27.Australia T20 skipper Aaron Finch will now be under the guidance of Hussey, who was one of their most consistent performers across formats during his playing days.

"I'm very excited actually. I'm really looking forward to getting back in around the Aussie team. They are going to be trying to get strategies in place, develop a style of play and what players they want and I love all that stuff -- planning for a big event," Hussey said.

"They have floated the possibility of being involved closer to the T20 World Cup as well but it's all pretty loose at the moment," he added.

Australia coach Justin Langer has been getting former players to mentor the side ahead of major tournaments. He had Ricky Ponting help him during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, where Australia lost to hosts and eventual champions England in the semi-finals, after having finished second in the round-robin stage.

In the Ashes series, Ponting was replaced by Steve Waugh and the series ended in a 2-2 draw.