Ever since Trevor Bayliss took over as England’s head coach, the results are there for all to see. Under Bayliss’ coaching and the ever reliable leadership of Alastair Cook, England have been utterly dominant. Barring a minor hiccup in UAE against Pakistan, things have gone according to plan for England.
The ongoing series against Sri Lanka which has already been won by England is a prime example of the team’s form. The Sri Lankans have been simply crushed in the two tests so far and at home, England look invincible. The likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been unplayable under the grey skies. However, coach Trevor Bayliss states that England are still far from playing at their absolute best.
“We are still a work in progress,” Bayliss said. “We’ve a long way to go before we reach our best or a way of playing the game that I think everyone would be happy with. If we want to compete against Australia, who are the No. 1 team at the moment, on a consistent basis there are areas we need to improve. “Our batting needs to improve against spin bowling. We did play well in the UAE against Pakistan so we know we can score runs. But bowling on the flatter, spin-bowling wickets, we can keep it tight but we’ve got room for improvement in terms of taking wickets.”
Backing the out of form Steven Finn to be back at his best, Bayliss said, “In the two Tests Steven played in South Africa, he was probably our best pace bowler.” “And I fully expect him to get back to where he was in that South Africa series very shortly. We know the devastating bowler he can be when he gets it right. “There no one thing you can tell anyone who’s out of form or out of rhythm. It’s about giving them as much support as possible and as much encouragement as you can.”
Also stating his concern over Nick Compton’s form, Bayliss added, “It would be a concern for him that obviously he’s not scoring as many runs as he would like. Whenever anyone’s a little out of form there’s always that little bit of a worry. But I thought in a short second innings he handled it pretty well and he looked like he hit the ball in the middle of the bat. Next week’s Test is on his home ground so we all want him to score runs and be a part of this team going forward.”