Trevor Bayliss warns England they face testing winter after Ashes glory

Winter warning: England celebrate winning the Ashes yesterday despite being hammered in the Fifth Test
(Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Tom Collomosse24 August 2015

Trevor Bayliss fears England lack the depth to build on their Ashes success by winning away from home this winter.

England regained the urn after winning a topsy-turvy Investec Series 3-2 but face tougher assignments in the coming months.

In the autumn, they take on Pakistan in three Tests in the United Arab Emirates, where they were whitewashed 3-0 by the same opponents in 2012. And in December and January, there are four Tests against South Africa, the No1-ranked Test side in the world.

Bayliss said: “We’ve got a few areas we’ve got to be better in and there are maybe a few positions in the team we can be stronger in. I’m sure all the players will be doing their utmost to fill those 11 spots but we need some depth as well to be good and successful over a sustained period.

“You need that depth in your squad and the winter tours are going to be very difficult. Most teams playing away in the last few years have struggled.

“We’ve got some hard work to do but we’ve got some very good young players who, with experience, will be able to handle that pretty well.”

(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Bayliss has been in the job only since the start of the Ashes and, asked about the quality available in county cricket, he used the example of struggling opener Adam Lyth (right) to illustrate the difference in standard between first-class and international levels.

Lyth failed to make even a single half-century in the Ashes series and is virtually certain to be dropped.

Bayliss confirmed Moeen Ali could be promoted to open in order to find room for a second spinner, probably Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid, in the XI.

“Adam hasn’t scored as many runs as he would like,” Bayliss said. “He has come up against two very good bowling attacks from New Zealand and Australia this summer and it’s a sign to the rest of county cricket that it’s a big step up from one level to the next.

“We all wish him well going forward. I’m sure he’ll play again at some stage. There is a selection meeting in a couple of weeks and I’m sure that position will be looked at, along with a few others.

“I’m not exactly sure of the depth that is there. We’ve got a lot of pace bowling depth, but as for spin bowling and the next batters, there is an opportunity for players in county cricket to stand up.

“Those batsmen who score hundred after hundred, and spin bowlers who take a lot of wickets, there are opportunities there. That’s the message.

“Could Moeen open in the UAE? Possibly, yes. It won’t come as a surprise that in the UAE, the possibility to play two spinners will be at the forefront of everyone’s thinking. We’d have to change the team to get a second spinner in. Moeen is probably the type of guy who could bat in a few positions in that top six or seven. I’m sure that will definitely be a discussion point. We’ve had Rashid in this squad and we have to work out how to fit him in and what the balance of the team will be.”

Bayliss added that certain players — likely to include Joe Root and Ben Stokes — would be rested for at least some of the limited-overs matches. England take on Australia in a Twenty20 international in Cardiff next Monday before facing the world champions in five ODIs.

When Test cricket returns, Bayliss hopes he and the selectors will not have to find a new No3. Ian Bell said yesterday that he would “take stock” before deciding on his future, but both Bayliss and captain Alastair Cook believe this was an emotional response.

Bayliss added: “Do I expect him to carry on? Yes, definitely. He certainly hasn’t said anything to me. You’ve got to understand that his has been a long summer on the back of some other tours. The emotional rollercoaster is hard for the players and at the back end of a series they can feel a bit down.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in