Headingley hurt can fire England to Lord’s victory
TREVOR BAYLISS was heartened by England’s dejection in the wake of their surprise five-wicket loss to the West Indies in the second Test and is counting on a response in the decider at Lord’s.
England suffered at the hands of a rejuvenated West Indies side, who bounced back from their Edgbaston trouncing to square the Investec series at Headingley by chasing down 322 on a tense final day thanks largely to an assured 118 not out from Shai Hope in only his 12th Test.
The tourists were given the opportunity to go for what was their fourth highest successful run chase of all-time by Joe Root declaring England’s innings late on the penultimate day when they still had two wickets in hand.
But Bayliss backed the England captain to continue with a positive mindset as he tipped his troops to bounce back at Lord’s next week.
England’s head coach said: “They were hurting and to me that’s a good thing.
“If the team is hurting after a loss, it means something to them. I’m sure they will be fully focused and ready to put things right in the next Test.
“I hope the result doesn’t change the way (Root) thinks about the game. In that situation, more times than not, we’ll win more than we lose.
“I’d like to see the same sort of thought process happening in the future.
“I think there are a few guys in the team behind him that were fully supportive – everyone was fully supportive – of his declaration and I’m sure they’ll be backing him up and suggesting in the future if we need to declare I’m sure they’ll give him a helping hand.”
In pinpointing the key factors for their second defeat in six Tests under Root, Bayliss accepted England had fallen short of their lofty standards with both bat and ball in the first innings as they trailed by 169 runs at the halfway point at Headingley.
But while he was encouraged by England’s batsmen bringing them back into the contest, he felt the bowlers were a little impatient as they sought the 10 Windies wickets which would have wrapped up a series win.
He said: “Batting was probably a little more difficult than it originally looked although it was still a decent wicket. To a certain degree, the (batsmen) learned their lesson from the first innings. I thought they showed a lot of character.
“When we bowled, they were a little bit two sides of the wicket and a little bit short
“We seemed to be fairly frustrated throughout that first bowling innings and I think that held over into the second innings.
“It looked like we were under a bit of pressure and got frustrated when it wasn’t quite happening for us.
“That doesn’t happen all that often. But it happens in the game of cricket every now and again and it happened on this occasion.”
England named an unchanged 13-man squad for the third Test, which gets under way on September 7, meaning Mark Stoneman, Tom Westley and Dawid Malan can cement their place in the batting order ahead of this winter’s Ashes.
Westley registered single figure scores in both knocks at Headingley while Stoneman and Malan each contributed important second-innings fifties to bolster their claims for a trip to Australia, and Bayliss was cheered by what he saw from the pair.
Bayliss added: “I suppose more than anything, they started to look comfortable at the crease, if that’s possible in a Test match.
“Certainly, Mark looks like a tough type of player to me. He looks like he’s ready for a scrap the whole time but, when the bad ball comes along, he is able to put it away.
“This last Test match will be another opportunity for them to really nail it down.
“They have started to look comfortable and they can both play off the back foot so the signs are looking good.
“But, as you know, we’ve said that before and we’ve had a change after a few more matches. I still have fingers crossed for them.”
Ottis Gibson, meanwhile, has decided to step down as England bowling coach to take over as the head coach of South Africa.
Gibson, who began his second stint with England in early 2015, will leave his post at the end of the current Test series.
“I would like to place on record my thanks to Ottis Gibson for his services to English cricket,” said England and Wales Cricket Board director Andrew Strauss.
“Ottis has been an integral part of the England team in his two stints as bowling coach.
“His experience, tactical awareness and understanding of bowling in all conditions has benefited our approach and has helped our bowling unit develop greatly across all formats of the game. He is an ambitious man and when this opportunity presented itself it was difficult for him to turn down. On behalf of the ECB, I would like to wish him every success.”
Gibson’s decision leaves England searching for a new fast bowling coach ahead of the Ashes Test series, which begins in November.
“Ottis has played a vital role in our progress,” added Bayliss. “His knowledge of the international game and the way he has supported all our bowlers in their development has been immeasurable.”
If the team is hurting after a loss, it means something to them. England head coach, Trevor Bayliss, on how the hosts hope to bounce back at Lord’s.
England squad for Third Test v West Indies
at Lord’s (starting Thursday, September 7): J Root (captain), M Ali, J Anderson, J Bairstow, S Broad, A Cook, M Crane, D Malan, T RolandJones, B Stokes, M Stoneman, T Westley, C Woakes.