Thomas has joined the West Indies squad prior to their International Cricket Council (ICC) 2019 Cricket World Cup qualification campaign in Zimbabwe, which takes place from March 4 to 25.

The 41-year-old expressed his excitement at his new role in a post on Instagram.

"Really honoured to be appointed bowling coach of a team with such great history and hopefully I can impact a really talented bunch of players," he said.

Thomas has a good pedigree as a player and played regularly in England, where he became Somerset County Cricket Club's highest wicket-taker in T20 with 137 wickets in 104 matches, as well as in Bangladesh, India, Australia and his native South Africa.

He only featured in one international match for South Africa, a T20 game against Pakistan in 2007, where he took three wickets for 25 runs.

However, he forged a reputation as an excellent death bowler over the course of his career.

Domestically, Thomas took 547 wickets in 164 first-class matches and 482 in 394 limited-over games.

Cricket West Indies have also announced that former bowler Joel Garner, who was part of the highly-regarded West Indies sides of the late 1970s and early 1980s, will be an ambassador for the fundraising T20 match against the ICC Rest of the World XI at Lord's Cricket Ground.

The money raised from the match will go towards the restoration of cricket grounds in Dominica and Anguilla, which were damaged by hurricanes last year.

West Indian cricket has been in decline in recent years following a fall-out between CWI and their leading players over selection issues.

CWI refuse to select players who have not played in a corresponding format in the West Indies, meaning several of their best cricketers are not picked.

The ICC 2019 Cricket World Cup will take place in England from May 30 to July 14.