Bayliss aims to keep Sri Lanka on top

Sri Lanka’s new coach Trevor Bayliss faces a baptism of fire as he takes over the team for the Twenty20 World Cup beginning in South Africa on September 11.

Bayliss speaking exclusively to Serendib News in Melbourne said that apart from talking to a couple of players on the phone, he has had little contact with his new charges but has tremendous confidence that he is inheriting a very talented outfit led by Mahela Jayawardene left behind by the departing Tom Moody and Trevor Penny.

Sri Lanka cricket has been on an upward spiral over the past two years and the departure of Moody and Penny has put them in an uncomfortable position so close to the World Cup of the new version of the game.

Obviously there will be no high expectations on the World Cup runners-up to repeat their heroics in the Caribbean, but continuity in the Test and normal one-day arena will be Bayliss’s initial focus to keep their winning momentum going.

Asked whether his coaching credentials will be largely boosted on Sri Lanka knocking off Australia in the forthcoming Test series in November, Bayliss replied “ I have nothing to prove to anyone by focussing on beating Australia. My job is primarily to prove to myself that I have what it takes to coach at the highest level. It is an exciting challenge, and Sri Lanka have good players and a good captain in Mahela Jayawardene so I will use the two years offered to me to ensure that Sri Lanka play consistently well as they did under Tom Moody” he said.

Bayliss said he would use all the experience he had with New South Wales to try and keep the island nation on top of their game. He acknowledged that he had some important issues to deal with as a few of the older generation make way for the new talent emerging to the Sri Lankan team. He said he was impressed with the available talent in Sri Lanka’s “A” team currently touring England and hopes to have the desired input into picking suitable replacements from the second string.

Commenting on Sri Lanka’s chances at the forthcoming Tewnty20 World Cup Bayliss said that the island nation will be one of the most inexperienced teams in the competition mainly because of the large exposure that teams like England, South Africa and New Zealand have in this format of the game. “They play a lot of Twenty 20 cricket in those countries so apart from a few Sri Lankans who play County cricket in England the rest lack the desired exposure in this form of the game” he said.

Bayliss warned however, that teams such as Australia, India, Pakistan Sri Lanka and the West Indies can never be written off in this form of the game because of their natural ability to adapt a cavalier approach.