The appointment of Trevor Bayliss as the new England coach will make Australia’s job of winning the Ashes series much harder, Australia coach Darren Lehmann said yesterday.
The 52-year-old former Sri Lanka coach, an Australian, was handed the role on Tuesday to succeed the sacked Peter Moores and is to take charge for the upcoming home series against their archrivals.
Bayliss is no stranger to Lehmann or Australia’s players — nine of Australia’s squad for the Ashes have played under him at New South Wales (NSW), where he was coaching before being headhunted.
Photo: AFP
He also stepped in as coach of the Australia Twenty20 side who beat South Africa late last year, while Lehmann remained with the Test squad following their 2-0 series loss to Pakistan.
His first mission will be to avenge England’s 5-0 Ashes whitewash against his home country in 2013-2014, starting with the first Test in Cardiff on July 8.
Lehmann said England were fortunate to have him at the helm.
“Trevor has been a great servant of the game in Australia and has had great success with NSW in both the long and short format, as well as with the Sydney Sixers and Kolkata Knight Riders in T20s,” he told the Cricket Australia Web site from the West Indies. “He did a great job for us when he took the reins in the international T20s against South Africa last year, winning the series 2-1.”
“A trademark of Trevor’s teams is that they are well prepared and this just serves as another reminder to us that this Ashes will be a tough contest,” Lehmann added. “I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him all the best.”
Bayliss will assume the role with an already solid working relationship with current caretaker coach Paul Farbrace, who steered England to a stirring 124-run win over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord’s on Monday.
They worked together during Bayliss’s time as coach of Sri Lanka, when he led them to the final of the 2011 World Cup.
The Australian also guided New South Wales to two Sheffield Shield titles, picked up two Indian Premier League crowns with the Kolkata Knight Riders and won the Australian Big Bash and Champions League with the Sydney Sixers.
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