There are Chances Available in the County Championship – Trevor Bayliss

English coach Trevor Bayliss has issued a plea to the batsmen in England’s County Championship to stand up and raise their performances to get selected ahead of England’s home season.

England was blown away by Australia and New Zealand and ended up losing and drawing two. Bayliss hence refused to guarantee many places in the top order after they struggled to make runs in a previous couple of series.

It was only skipper Joe Root who averaged more than 40 in the two series combined. Australia ended up winning the Ashes by a 4-0 margin while New Zealand won by a 1-0 margin. Wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow was the 2^nd highest run-scorer for England during this two series.

Middle-order batsman Dawid Malan also seems to book his place for the opening Test of the two-match series against Pakistan.

Opener Alastair Cook will be one player who will be eager to score runs in the County Championship. He struck an epic 244 against Australia in Melbourne to cap off an otherwise mediocre summer where he scored only 155 runs at an average of 12.91 in 12 innings.

However, players like Mark Stoneman and James Vince who averaged 30 over their course of time in Australia and New Zealand will be under pressure to perform.

Trevor Bayliss, Ben Stokes, Wards, Deliver, Absence, Ashes 2017-18, Australia Vs England — Bayliss played 58 first-class matches in which he scored 3,060 runs at an average of 35.58. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

The County Championship begins on 13^th April, Friday. Bayliss is looking for performers who stand out in the County Championship.

“Those early matches back home, I think, will mean a lot,” Bayliss said.

“There are chances available (for selection) – if you’re scoring a lot of runs and taking a lot of wickets, you’re going to be very close. (But) I don’t think there’s anyone at home putting their hand up at the moment and saying come and pick me. The same questions are still there, but I’m not sure there are better players out of the team at the moment.

“So who do we replace them with? There are some young players on the cusp, but I guess this is a call-out to the guys in county cricket – the first few matches of the season are very important.”