Trevor Bayliss has tipped his assistant, Paul Farbrace, to succeed him as the England head coach when he stands down at the end of the 2019 home summer.
Farbrace takes charge of the set-up for the Twenty20 internationals against Australia and India, starting on Wednesday with a one-off against the former at Edgbaston, as Bayliss has a spell of down time and domestic player scouting. It is a chance for the 50-year-old Englishman to take the rudder once more, having taken the helm before the arrival of Bayliss back in 2015. And the incumbent has endorsed him to take over when his own contract with England expires after next year’s Ashes.
“Definitely. If that’s what he wants to do, then I’m all for it,” replied Bayliss when asked whether Farbrace, who previously worked alongside him with Sri Lanka, could be suited to the role permanently down the line.
The idea of Farbrace’s temporary stint was first floated by Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, six months ago, as a chance to broaden his experience and rotate the coaching staff in light of a relentless international schedule.
His brief first spell three years ago included a drawn Test series with New Zealand followed by the first win for Eoin Morgan’s revamped one-day side, as a revolution that has since propelled them to No 1 in the world was sparked. A spell of 50-over cover came early last year too, when Bayliss sat out a 3-0 away win over West Indies.
Whether the top job is split along the lines of Test and white-ball cricket by 2019 remains to be seen; this idea has been floated in light of the two sides having enjoyed contrasting fortunes during the Bayliss era and the man himself expects it could happen long term.
Set the primary target of winning next summer’s World Cup, Bayliss is not winding down and has told his one-day batsmen to learn from Jos Buttler’s icy display of escapology at Old Trafford on Sunday as a first 5-0 whitewash over Australia was secured.
Buttler’s alchemic 110 not out from 122 balls chased down 206 from a perilous 114 for eight and completed a thrilling one-wicket win.
Given an aggressive line-up that has suffered the odd match-losing early collapse in an otherwise trailblazing three years, Bayliss hopes others have noted how their teammate played.
He said: “We stuffed up in the beginning but for the first time one of the guys showed the rest how we should be approaching that situation. It will give Jos and the rest of the guys a blueprint of how they should go about it, and the confidence to know that we can.”
On Buttler, who averages 108 from 14 innings since the start of May spread across the Indian Premier League, Test cricket and one-dayers, Bayliss added: “Jos is right up there in the top echelon.
“He’s a bit different to some of the guys I’ve worked with before but he’s devastating. He looks at the situation of the game and he’s a winner.”
