TIM Lewis and Jamell Anderson will be taking on their own Essex Pirates team at the Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre tomorrow night.

For coach Lewis and forward Anderson are in international duty for Great Britain under 20s this summer.

And they will continue their preparations for the forthcoming European Championship B Division campaign with a warm up match against the Pirates, tip off 6.30pm.

“It is going to be quite a strange evening for me personally as I will be sitting on the away bench and taking charge of a team against the Pirates as I will be coaching the GB under 20s like I do every summer,” explained Lewis.

“We are currently working towards the Europeans we have coming up in Austria and this game is part of our preparations.

“It is a good chance for the players to learn more about each other on the court and it is also an opportunity to try one or two things out because we certainly do not want to be doing that in the championships themselves. But it will be a worthwhile match for both teams and I am sure it will be enjoyable too.

“At least I know the strengths and weaknesses of the Pirates so there is a method to my madness but it is great for the town to have an international team playing here.”

Anderson will be part of that side.

And, having ended the BBL season in good form for the Pirates, he is now looking to maintain for Great Britain.

“I was pleased with the way the season ended and I think being involved with the BBL and being around professional players gives me a big advantage when it comes to GB,” said Anderson.

“I was really looking forward meeting up with the rest of the team and the games we have coming up, especially against the Pirates which is going to be quite weird but very interesting too.”

The GB squad met up at the start of June, in Southend and will also play warm up matches in both Bulgaria and Belgium before heading off to Austria where Anderson will again be under the guidance of coach Lewis.

“It’s good that Tim’s the coach but he’s been on at me all year in training and in games with the GB squad in mind,” said Anderson.