Ditch T20s, says Bayliss

England cricket coach Trevor Bayliss is clearly no fan of Twenty20 internationals. In fact, if he had his way they wouldn’t play the shortest form of the game at the highest level.

Bayliss made the assertion after England’s anticlimactic two-run victory over New Zealand in Hamilton on Sunday night – their first of the Trans-Tasman tri-series but one that saw them come up short in their bid to make the final against Australia in Auckland tomorrow.

The England coach said in his post-game interview he believed a rethink was in order on Twenty20 internationals as a jam-packed schedule continued to make unreasonable demands on all involved.

England won just one of their four T20 internationals in the transTasman series with a squad featuring a number of key defections, and Bayliss re-iterated his view that the shortest format should only be played internationally in the leadup to World Cups.

‘‘Look, I haven’t changed my opinion on it. I wouldn’t play T20 internationals,’’ he said after the Hamilton match. ‘‘I’d just let the franchises play.

‘‘If we continue putting on so many games there will be a certain amount of blowout, not just players but coaches as well.

‘‘If you want to play a World Cup every four years or whatever it is, maybe six months before you get the international teams and let them play some T20 internationals.’’

Bayliss, who has coached in the Indian Premier League with Kolkata Knight Riders, said it was likely that coaches would also have to specialise if the T20 schedule continued as it was.

‘‘If you go to a swimming tournament you’ve got 1500m specialists and 100m specialists,’’ Bayliss said. ‘‘I think it’s definitely the way it’s heading, not just with the players ... but when that happens I’m not sure.’’