Jos hopes to send Bayliss out on a high
JOS BUTTLER says England’s one-day contingent will be sad to see head coach Trevor Bayliss go next year but are already planning a grand farewell at the 2019 World Cup.
Bayliss will call time on his reign when his contract expires at the end of next summer, setting in motion a long goodbye which culminates in pursuit of two of the sport’s biggest prizes on home turf.
While the Test team will be focusing on reclaiming the Ashes, the limited-overs squad, whose own tour of Australia began with a warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI in Sydney today, are shooting for a first World Cup success.
The fact that is even a realistic possibility is down to the radical overhaul of England’s white-ball cricket under Bayliss.
“Hopefully we can send him off on a high,” said Buttler. “That’s always been our goal as a side.
“I didn’t know if he would stay on for longer, that’s his decision and a lot of people will be sad to see him go. Trevor’s been fantastic for us, he creates a brilliant atmosphere which allows people to go out and play in that free fashion.
“He doesn’t miss a beat, he sees everything that goes on and his great strength is he’s a great manmanager. He really looks after people and gives them confidence. Any coach who can make the player feel 10 feet tall when they go out is fantastic.”
Buttler, who will earn his 100th ODI cap when the series proper starts in Melbourne on Sunday, has spent the past few weeks in Australia on Big Bash duty with Sydney Thunder.
Alex Hales and Jason Roy are set to go head-to-head against Cricket Australia for the right to partner Jonny Bairstow in Sunday’s series opener.
Joe Root’s sickness bug saw him skip net practice yesterday but he felt well enough to referee the traditional football warm-up.
He is highly unlikely to be risked at the Drummoyne Oval, leaving Hales and Roy to vie for attention at the top of the innings.
The MCC World Cricket Committee has called for new safety protocols to protect players during times of extreme heat.
Temperatures during day four of the final Ashes Test in Sydney reached 41C and England captain Root was hospitalised the following morning having suffered from severe dehydration. A viral illness was cited as the primary cause but the heat may have played a part and the matter was brought to the attention of the advisory group.
It met in Sydney after the Test and while it found existing laws did allow umpires to remove players if conditions were “unreasonable or dangerous”, some of its most prominent members advocated a more focused initiative.
One, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, said: “Joe’s thing wasn’t completely a result of how hot it was, he probably had a viral thing too, but having one or two players go down seriously ill like that is a dangerous precedent to ignore.”
He makes players feel 10 feet tall