Bayliss wary of Aussie retaliation

The satisfaction that Trevor Bayliss felt in getting one over his old team was only heightened by the onset of light but persistent rain across Cardiff on what should have been the final morning of the first Ashes Test.

So often in Ashes campaigns of yore, the British summer weather has been the subject of mocking and frustration by Australians who have seen it impede imminent victory as readily as it does a seaside holiday.

Recap: England go one-nil up

To compound any lingering Australian hurt about the meek surrender of the tourists’ batting on day four at SSE SWALEC Stadium, the rain remained well into the afternoon and it’s quite likely the final day’s play would have been abandoned without a ball bowled.

Which meant the Ashes holders could have conceivably held out for an undeserved draw and headed to the second Test with the series deadlocked at nil-all, if only they had found the gumption to bat beyond their two-innings total of 155 overs.

So Bayliss, whose sun-weathered countenance betrays a cricket life spent largely in his native New South Wales, could afford to smile through the mizzle that engulfed old south Wales today because the England team he now coaches had made sure the opening Test would not see a day five.

It was precisely this contingency that underpinned England’s almost kamikaze chase for runs on the third day, a ploy that in addition to setting them up with sufficient time to bowl out their rivals regardless of the last day’s weather also saw the Australians bat with reckless abandon in their wake. 

England plans come to fruition

And while the disappointment that the Australia team that Bayliss coached in Twenty20 mode as recently as last November must only have been compounded by the weather that bighted their spare day in the Welsh capital, he is expected an even stormier reception at Lord’s from Thursday.

“It’s better to be one-nil up than one-nil down,” Bayliss observed in his broad, flint-dry Australian accent after England had scored a highly entertaining, largely unforeseen 169-run win by dominating all four days in Cardiff.

“But the boys are very aware that when you beat Australia, the next match will be even tougher.

“They will hit back hard we know that.

"They would be hurting. They don't like losing, like any international cricketers.

"They've got a proud record and losing will mean they come out in the next game trying to prove a point and make up for their performance in this match.”

It’s not just that combative Australia temperament that Bayliss cultivated as a hard-nosed middle order batsman with the NSW Blues in the 1990s and then as coach of Sri Lanka that makes him so certain of what will be awaiting his new-look squad in London.

The scale and mode of England’s victory in Wales, where they outplayed their more fancied rivals not only in all aspects of the game but in the aggressive intent they showed in doing it, may have the home crowds crowing.

But Bayliss saw sufficient signs to indicate this will not be one-way traffic.

“Enough of their (Australia’s) batters showed enough (in the first Test),” Bayliss said, as if to dampen the expectation engulfing the UK’s cricket fans in the same way the Welsh weather dampened any sightseeing plans for Australia players suddenly granted a spare day.

“They got starts.

“So they're not far off making some big scores (and) we’re going to have to be on our game to win more matches from now on.”

Video: Aussie concerns ahead of Cardiff

Such were the intricacy and success of England’s plans to quell Australia’s top-order batters – especially those Bayliss had coached recently (David Warner, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin) – that conspiracy theorists sniffed that the ex-coach had been heavily involved in plotting.

But Bayliss dismissed suggestions that England’s detailed strategy was masterminded by an act of subversion that, in the earlier days of Ashes contests might have seen him banged up in the Tower.

Most of the intelligence the 52-year-old claimed he contributed to the game day dossier since taking over the role less than three weeks ago comprised the sort of observations any half-smart tech-savvy strategist might formulate through watching videotapes and a few games of live cricket.

“To be honest, I didn’t speak to Cookie (England captain Alastair Cook) too much at all about specific fielding positions (for Australia’s batsmen) other than allow them to go over the top (of the in-field) early (in their innings) and hopefully they make a mistake,” Bayliss revealed.

“But when they do, have an in-out field – have a guy protecting the boundary so they maybe don’t go for a big hit but still allow those close fielders that can take a catch.

“We wanted to send the message that we’re here to take wickets.”

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Captain and coach talk tactics // Getty Images

Perhaps Bayliss’s most notable influence was the pace England played the game, in a manner that his counterpart in the away team rooms Darren Lehmann graciously compared to the Australia brand of cricket in the way they kept their foot on the pedal.

And while some have queried how comfortable the famously conservative Cook might be with this new attacking mode, especially in light of his dismissal in both innings trying to force the pace, Bayliss – true to his reputation – indicated all his players are free to play in the manner that makes them most comfortable.

“My message to Alastair will be to go out and play his own way,” Bayliss said.

“Yes we were talking as a group about being mentally aggressive, not necessarily trying to whack fours and sixes.

“But if you're mentally aggressive, those boundary balls when they do come along your feet are moving and you put them away.

“Sometimes that message can take a little bit to sink in, but certainly people like Alastair and Belly (veteran batsman Ian Bell) they've scored plenty of Test hundreds.

“My advice to them is to go out and bat like they've always done.

"Those two guys are class players and they can change their game to suit any situation and the rest of the guys can bat around them.”

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