Trevor Bayliss has called on the England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia to provide more competitive tour matches in the lead up to an Ashes series after England’s final warm-up ended with just a single wicket’s reward for a brutal day in the field and a draw against untried youngsters.
England’s opposition before Thursday’s first Test has largely comprised players with little or no first-class experience and the head coach said: “Both Australia and England should be getting together and having at least one match against the A team before each series. I know when Australia go to England there are similar questions asked, that’s the way it is. From the point of view of these three games I don’t think we could have done any more. I’ve already mentioned it to [England’s director of cricket Andrew] Strauss and I will mention it to Pat Howard [Strauss’s Australian counterpart] when I see him too.”
The same problems exist when Australia tour England, although not to such an extreme extent, as they play county sides that are now usually a mix of first- and second-teamers. But Bayliss believes an official agreement should be put in place. He acknowledged that the intensity of an Ashes opener cannot be replicated, but believes both teams must be less self‑serving. “It’s not going to be perfect and nothing compares with the first Test of an Ashes away in Brisbane, where Australia haven’t lost for 30-odd years but that means they are one day closer to losing there,” he said.
Bayliss kept his counsel on Cricket Australia’s decision to allocate England training sessions only in the afternoon at the Gabba on Tuesday and Wednesday. “That was a bone of contention,” he said. “The home team makes the programme and that’s just the way it is. We will take it on the chin and get on with it. One of the games we are training in the morning the day before the game too.”
