England coach Bayliss to step down regardless of Ashes result

Saturday, 13 July 2019 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

England head coach Trevor Bayliss during nets - Action Images via Reuters

Reuters: England head coach Trevor Bayliss has said he will step down from his position regardless of how the team fares in the Cricket World Cup final against New Zealand on Sunday and the Ashes test series against Australia in August and September.

Bayliss, who has been in charge of England since 2015 and led them to the top of the one-day international rankings last year, has a contract until September.

“I have always been a believer that four or five years is long enough, whether you are doing well or not,” Bayliss told BBC Radio. “It is time for a new voice for the boys, to hopefully take them to another level. “Four years ago after the last World Cup, which was not good for England, we set out and had planning to hopefully win the 2019 edition, and it feels great that now we have a chance to fulfil those dreams.” England’s Director of Cricket Ashley Giles said in February that they are almost certain to have one coach in charge of their test, one-day international and Twenty20 teams after Bayliss completes his stint.

England reached the 50-overs World Cup final with a convincing eight-wicket win over holders Australia on Thursday and the hosts, who are three-times runners-up, are looking to win their first ever title in Sunday’s final at Lord’s. “We had a chat in the changing room afterwards and realised we have not won anything yet,” the 56-year-old Australian Bayliss added. “There’s going to be a lot of noise around ‘you guys are the favourites’ — we can’t listen to any of that.

“We have just got to concentrate on the way we have gone about our cricket over the past four years and what has got us to this point and go through our process.”

After the World Cup, England play a one-off test against Ireland on 24 July before the first Ashes test begins on 1 August at Edgbaston.