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Trevor Bayliss will be among those watching the fifth Ashes Test at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground this Sunday. But even as the head coach responsible for delivering the World Cup in 2019, the majority of England fans who walk past him will probably do so without so much as a double take.
This was very much the Australian’s way when sporting the Three Lions on his training kit for five years – low key and forever dodging the spotlight under that wide-brimmed hat. Even crediting Bayliss for that World Cup – or the Ashes win in 2015 – cuts against his mantra that players alone deserve the glory. Coaches, he always stressed, are simply there to facilitate.
On a grey New Year’s Day in Sydney, the harbour city sleeping off its firework extravaganza the night before, Bayliss could be found doing just that. The Big Bash League is in full swing and after a net session with his Sydney Thunder players at the Olympic Park, the 63-year-old sat down over a coffee to discuss an Ashes series that is slightly limping to its conclusion.
“I won’t lie, mate. It has been a bit of a disappointment,” he says, regarding Australia’s 3-1 lead with one to play. “I did an event over Zoom with some Sussex supporters before it started, organised by Paul Farbrace [his former assistant coach with England], and I actually tipped 3-2 to Australia.
“That is still possible, I suppose. But I genuinely thought it would be more competitive; that it would go deeper and maybe even get to a decider here in Sydney. You get one-eyed Aussies who just want to smash England but the proper cricket lovers here were hoping for a classic.”
Bayliss is very much in the second of those camps, not least given the service to English cricket that led to him being awarded an OBE (even if he says his wife, Julie, is the one who insisted on hanging it on the wall at home). There are also personal ties with the likes of Ben Stokes and Joe Root, plus his time coaching Brendon McCullum in the Indian Premier League.
This being the case, Bayliss holds back from joining the chorus of voices calling for change or who have criticised England’s lack of preparation leading into the tour. Not that he does not lament the loss of state games more broadly. “When I played for New South Wales, we always wanted to mess up the touring teams before their big series, get ’em on the back foot” he says. “We never lost one of those games. And we won most of them.”
As someone steeped in the Australian system, Bayliss does wonder, however, whether broader differences have been at play in a series in which England blew their chance in the opener in Perth and disintegrated thereafter – only clawing one back via that two-day shootout in Melbourne.
He continues: “I think Australia have been pretty good in the big moments; better at seeing them coming and better at dealing with them when they do. To a certain degree, I think that is a bit more in-built.
“Maybe it comes down to the cricket you play growing up. Physically and mentally, I think the Aussies over the years probably have been a little bit more robust and they’re able to handle that pressure a bit better.
“Right from under-eights – and it doesn’t matter what sport – you play finals to decide trophies, not first-past-the-post in a league. You can go through an entire season undefeated and still lose the final. And because of the pyramid system we have in place, the cream of this just rises to the top.”
Bayliss is not looking to dance on England’s grave here and says this is just one theory as to why their success on Australian soil in particular has been so fleeting over the years. He is also of the view that the Ashes could change hands during the English summer of 2027, noting how the current Australia side – golden though it is – is growing long in the tooth.
“I think England will be a big chance,” he says. “I don’t know how many of this Australia team will still be playing a couple of years from now. And even the guys who are still around, well, no one ever retires at the top of their game – the output of runs and wickets tends to decline.
“There’s some very exciting talent to come out of the recent under-19s sides but in terms of that mid-20s range, those guys who are next in, they’re good … and I might be wrong … but I’m not sure whether they’ll reach the greatness of some of the players at the moment.”
As for how England have fared under McCullum, Bayliss sees parallels with the one-day side he and Eoin Morgan built between 2015 and 2019 – that desire to push the boundaries of what is possible. Bayliss says he was often the one asking Morgan whether they should pump the brakes at times, with his philosophy of “aggressive” cricket often misunderstood.
“It was a mindset,” he says. “If you’ve got that positive mindset of looking for runs, as I said, you make good decisions. If you’re looking to just survive, or not to go for any runs off your bowling, it’s harder to score runs or take wickets. I knew we would have to pull back and do the hard yards at times. Think back to the World Cup final, that is exactly what happened.
“And the whole ‘Bazball’ thing – McCullum didn’t come up with that word. And it has probably not helped him. For me it always looked like it was about getting into the minds of the opposition, and you could say in the 2023 Ashes it worked, because the Aussies had blokes on the fence from ball one. Although I guess I always wondered if it would work here.
“But Baz is a good fella. And I love Stokesy. He’s got such a strong character and is a sort of follow-me type. Unfortunately, there haven’t been too many able to follow him on this occasion.”
In a parallel universe Bayliss might have been McCullum’s opposite number, having been interviewed for the role of Australia’s head coach when Justin Langer was deposed four years ago. “Andrew McDonald has done very well,” he says. “He’s done the hard yards coaching and is a good communicator. The players trust him and the results speak for themselves.”
As it is, beyond performing his role at Sydney Thunder and trying to arrest some ailing form after finishing runners-up last season, Bayliss is happy to be watching from afar – even if one aspect of the Ashes has got his back up.
“The one thing that irks me a little bit is some of the commentary,” he adds. “Richie Benaud, for example. I know he spent a lot of time in England, but he used to just commentate the actual game.
“If it wasn’t for the accent, you would never have known where he was from or what team he used to play for. But these days, a lot of commentators are almost playing up to it. You know who they are supporting.”
Though likely to remain out of the spotlight when he takes his seat at the SCG on Sunday, Bayliss probably speaks for a good few here.
