Paul Farbrace to take over from Trevor Bayliss for T20Is against Australia and India

England

0

Paul Farbrace is to assume the role of head coach of the England teams for the T20 matches against Australia and India.

Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, has had previous spells as interim head coach, notably at the start of the 2015 English season. At that time, after Peter Moores had been sacked and before Trevor Bayliss started, Farbrace oversaw the start of England’s resurgence in limited-overs cricket – they passed 400 for the first time in their ODI history in the series against New Zealand and also achieved their highest ODI run-chase of 350 – and installed Ben Stokes as the Test side’s regular No. 6.

Farbrace has also coached Sri Lanka with some success, winning the World T20 and Asia Cup in 2014.

Bayliss, meanwhile, will spend the time watching prospective England prospects. As well as watching England Lions in their tri-series matches, he is also expected to go to some county matches including the Royal London Cup final at Lord’s. He will resume his role as head coach for the ODIs against India.

Bayliss’ lack of county knowledge has been a persistent weakness during his period as England coach. Having never played or coached in the county game, he found that the demands of the England role left little time to travel around the counties watching players and gathering the opinions of coaches.

While it has previously been suggested that he need not be present at every day of England’s games, it has taken until now – more than three years into the job – for him to take such action. It may be relevant that it is only weeks since Andy Flower became acting director of the England teams in the temporary absence of Andrew Strauss. Bayliss remains, alongside Ed Smith, one of England’s selectors. The job advert for a third selector has recently been published.

It would probably be wrong to assume that Farbrace will succeed Bayliss at the end of the 2019 season. While Farbrace would be a strong candidate for the role – or roles if, as expected, the limited-overs and Test roles are split – it is far from certain he would want to commit to more years on the road. He has been with England since 2014 (originally as assistant to Moores) and has been in demand for both county roles and other international sides.

Equally, England may decide they want a fresh start. Much will depend on what happens in the 2019 World Cup and Ashes series that follows it.