He returned to England the following year as part the New Zealand side which reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, but the emergence of Ian Smith meant that these opportunities thereafter were limited.

After ending his cricketing career he turned to coaching in 1989, he remained there until 1990 before being promoted to national team with which he spent nearly three years.

Players like Gavin Larsen, Rod Latham and Willie Watson were his find under Martin Crowe as captain of the team.

In 2014, after spending years with Black Caps, Lees became an interim coach of a New Zealand women's national cricket team called White Ferns.

[4] During that year, his team had participated in the 2017 World Cup against Sri Lanka and won seven wickets at the County Cricket Ground, Derby.

[7] In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lees was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to cricket.