Ashes: Trevor Bayliss to step down as England cricket team’s head coach in 2019
Trevor Bayliss, who has copped criticism after England cricket team’s 4-0 defeat to Australia in the 2017-18 Ashes, confirmed he will step down from his job when his contract expires at the end of the 2019 Ashes.
Trevor Bayliss will not continue as England cricket team’s head coach post the 2019 home summer, as the Australian clarified that he believes in changing camps every ‘four or five years’.
Bayliss, who was appointed England’s coach after the team’s poor show in the 2015 ICC World Cup, has copped criticism after their 4-0 defeat to Australia in the 2017-18 Ashes Down Under.
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Though Bayliss confirmed that England’s aim to win an Ashes series in Australia is a ‘four-year project’, according to the Mirror, he’ll not be around for the entirety of it.
“I told Andrew Strauss 12 months ago that I’m contracted to September 2019 and that would see me out. I’ve never been anywhere more than four or five years,” Bayliss said.
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“Whether you’re going well or not. I’ve always felt that it’s time for a change around about that four-year mark — a new voice, a different approach reinvigorates things. Joe Root as the captain will still be there and there’s a base of six or seven players that will still be young and good enough to be in the team,” he added.
Bayliss said he has no problem in working towards a goal even though he wouldn’t be in charge of the side about one-and-a-half years from now.
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“You leave a coaching position hopefully with the team in a better place than when you started. I’ve got no problem working towards a long-term goal even if I’m not going to be there.”
“Winning an away Ashes tour is probably the highlight of anyone’s career. You would like that to be the focus, but in between you have other big series that you want to win. How you juggle that and the planning for four years’ time is a difficult one. You might not get it right every single time, either,” Bayliss expressed.
‘No big changes’
Bayliss asserted that England do not require any big changes despite losing nine of their last 10 Tests in Australia. “I can’t see any big changes. We’ve known for a couple of years that we have been three or four performing players short of a very, very good team.
“(James) Vince and (Mark) Stoneman have shown what they are capable of, but will be disappointed that they weren’t able to capitalise on their good play. They do deserve a bit more of a chance. They were playing against one of the best attacks in the world in their home conditions. They showed people how they can play, the potential they have,” he concluded.