Shane Warne has backed Trevor Bayliss to do the England cricket job, saying it would be a boost for the English setup.
Warne, who played against Bayliss in the Sheffield Shield, expects the New South Welshman will be a background type of coach and says England are very lucky.
“If Trevor Bayliss is the new coach of England, then England are very lucky, as he is a ripper and even better, he’s pure old school too,” the Test great said on Twitter.
“He’s done a wonderful job, on all the reports, with the teams he’s coached,” Warne told Sky Sports.
“Everyone’s a big fan of Trevor Bayliss. He’s fair, he’s harsh, and he creates a pretty good environment.”
Bayliss, 52, is set to be appointed after frontrunner Jason Gillespie said he had been told by ECB director of cricket Andrew Strauss he was unsuccessful.
Bayliss led NSW to two Sheffield Shield titles, helped Sri Lanka to the 2011 World Cup final and won the Indian Premier League with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
He is also a former colleague of current England caretaker coach Paul Farbrace.
The pair joined forces in Sri Lanka and together endured a 2009 terrorist attack on the team bus in Pakistan.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain suspects Strauss may have gone for Bayliss over Gillespie due to the former’s experience coaching limited-overs cricket.
“He’s obviously hugely experienced and also in one-day cricket,” Hussain said on Monday.
“Jason Gillespie hasn’t done a lot of one-day cricket … whereas Bayliss has done IPL and Kolkata Knight Riders.
“England need to look at their one-day cricket so maybe he just ticks more boxes.”
Hussain argues England need an “external view” considering its poor run of form in the shorter versions of the game.
He dismissed talk Bayliss might not be suitable simply because he didn’t play international cricket himself.
“They key really is for him to get in that dressing room and start to know the players and get very close to the England captain Alastair Cook and the one-day captain Eoin Morgan.”
Respected commentator and former England coach David Lloyd also endorsed Bayliss’ credentials.
“Trust has been mentioned in recent times and (England assistant coach Paul) Farbrace will have assured the team that they can trust Bayliss.
“He is a solid, old-school coach who did a remarkable job with Sri Lanka.”
It seems as the media is also behind Bayliss getting the post.
“If Trevor Bayliss is the unexpected choice as the next England coach, he may also be the correct one, Stephen Brenkley wrote in The Independent.
“With all the attention understandably directed towards Jason Gillespie in Yorkshire, Bayliss is Andrew Strauss’ version of pulling a rabbit from a hat.
“Now that it has happened, it seems an obvious trick for England’s director of cricket to have performed”
