Tom Moody has revealed he was in contention for the job of England coach before the appointment of Trevor Bayliss and has warned it is unrealistic to expect his fellow Australian to bring instant success this Ashes summer.
The 49-year-old was interviewed by Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, but, along with another Australian, in Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie, was overlooked for the post.
Moody is a perennial contender for the England job largely because of his long association with Worcestershire, where he spent 13 years as a player and the director of cricket. Like Bayliss, Moody had a highly successful spell in charge of Sri Lanka, whom he joined in 2005 after leaving New Road and led to the 2007 World Cup final.
“My name always seems to be mentioned when coaching jobs come up – I must be on speed dial!” he said. “I did have a chat with Andrew Strauss, yes, and that’s where it ended.
“But I think it’s more about Trevor Bayliss than anything else. It’s not about looking at myself or Jason Gillespie, or anyone else who was under consideration. I’ve known Trevor since our very early playing days; he was playing for New South Wales and I was with Western Australia in the late 80s.
“I think it’s a terrific appointment by England. He’s got a wealth of experience across many different walks of the game. He brings a lot to the table. I’d call him a quiet achiever. He just sits under the radar and gets the job done – that’s his personality as well as his management style.”
Despite the positive start to the summer against New Zealand, Moody said England should not expect overnight success under Bayliss, especially as his first assignment will be an Ashes series against a formidable Australia team. “I think he’s got a wonderful job,” Moody said.
“But if England are expecting to be No1 in the world in five minutes it’s not going to happen. Trevor, along with [Test captain] Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, I’m sure will forge a strong partnership and will certainly set sail in the right direction.
“I think that the Ashes is going to be a challenging series for England. Australia are probably a year or two ahead of where they currently are, with regards to the depth of experience and talent. I’d be surprised if Australia didn’t win the series.”
It might have been expected that Bayliss, who leaves his posts with New South Wales and Kolkata Knight Riders to take charge of England, would have received some criticism from his compatriots for defecting to the old enemy.
Moody, though, said: “The reaction here has been very positive. Everyone’s rapt when someone gets a leg up and an opportunity like this. Trevor’s a likeable character in the Australian cricketing community and there’s certainly no animosity towards his appointment. I think he’s going with a lot of well wishes.”
Moody, who among his many current roles is the coach of the Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad and the director of cricket for the Caribbean Premier League, would not rule out taking the England job should the chance arise: “I’m very happy but you never say never to opportunities on the international circuit or anything else that might crop up.”
