Trevor Bayliss has been appointed England's head coach. Bayliss, who will join the ECB next month and take charge of the team for the start of the Ashes series, said: "I firmly believe the team has a bright future."
The director of England cricket, Andrew Strauss, recruited the 52-year-old Australian who was in the running for the post last year before Peter Moores was appointed. Bayliss will link up again with Paul Farbrace, the caretaker England coach who worked alongside him coaching Sri Lanka.
Strauss said: “Trevor has an outstanding record as coach, has global experience and is very highly regarded in the game. He has proved himself in both domestic and international cricket, has a strong reputation for man-management and has shown how to build winning teams in all three formats.
“His expertise in the shorter forms of the game will be vital as we build towards three major ICC events over the next four years; the ICC World T20 tournament in India in 2016 and the ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup which will be staged in England and Wales in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
“Trevor will also work well with Paul Farbrace, an exceptional coach who will continue as assistant coach after helping us to an outstanding victory over New Zealand in the first Test of the summer. This has been a very competitive recruitment process and we’re grateful to all of the candidates who showed their interest in this role. I’m excited to have him on board.”
Bayliss, the coach of New South Wales, said: "It's an honour to be appointed England coach. There's a great opportunity to help Alastair Cook and Eoin Morgan shape the direction and development of their respective teams. I am also looking forward to working alongside Paul Farbrace once again as we have a similar outlook on the game, get on well after two years working together and have kept in touch.
“What particularly excites me about the role is the chance to work with a very talented group of players. I firmly believe that the team has a bright future and I’ll be doing everything I can to help them realise their potential and achieve success on a consistent basis.”
Moores was sacked this month and after Strauss failed to convince his former Middlesex team-mate Justin Langer to leave his role at Western Australia, the title-winning Yorkshire head coach, Jason Gillespie, became the frontrunner and met the ECB twice last week.
Bayliss emerged as the ECB’s “preferred candidate” and his appointment continues a positive week for English cricket after England completed a thrilling win over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord’s on Monday.
