England head coach Trevor Bayliss has said that he will stand down from the role when his contract expires at the end of the 2019 English season.
In the aftermath of a heavy Ashes defeat, Bayliss told reporters that he had advised Andrew Strauss, Director, England Cricket, of his decision to leave irrespective of results a year ago, so his comments should come as no surprise to the ECB management. It means Bayliss will lead England in the 2019 World Cup and then the Ashes series which follows before leaving his post.
“I told Andrew Strauss probably 12 months ago that September 2019 I’m contracted to and that would see me out,” Bayliss said on Tuesday (January 9). “I’ve never been anywhere any more than four of five years. Whether you’re going well or not I’ve always felt that roundabout that four-year mark is time to change. A new voice, a slightly different approach slightly reinvigorates things. So I passed that on him 12 months ago.”
Although Bayliss has overseen a fine improvement in England’s limited-overs cricket, the Test side’s record is poor since he took over in 2015 with more losses than wins in the format. Their away form in particular has been shoddy with a 4-0 defeat to Australia in the Ashes following a 4-0 defeat to India and a 1-1 draw with Bangladesh last winter. England remain a flawed side but the head coach said he didn’t think there would be wholesale changes for the upcoming tour to New Zealand.
“I can’t see too many big changes,” he said. “We’ve known for a couple of years we’ve been three or four performing players short of a very, very good team. We’ve had good performances at home in Test cricket but a lot of that’s been on the back of our big five or six players. Trying to fill those last three of four spots so you’ve got that consistency in the team would help away from home.
“Malan has probably done enough, he’s probably cemented one of those spots we were after. James Vince and Mark Stoneman have shown what they’re capable of but would be a little disappointed they weren’t able to capitalise on some of their good play. If guys like that can capitalise on their starts and make big hundreds that gives us across out top seven players who are performing well.”
Bayliss’s announcement means he will not be in charge when England next return to Australia in 2021-22 despite assistant coach Paul Farbrace saying during the recent SCG Test that they needed to start planning for that trip now. Bayliss will begin that job but not finish it.
“Root will still be there as captain and there’s a base of six or seven players that will still be young and good enough to be in the team,” Bayliss said. “The captain is in charge. We’re there to help out. 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.”
