AUSTRALIAN Trevor Bayliss has been confirmed as England's new cricket coach and his first task will be to take the Ashes back of his home country.
The ECB announced that Bayliss, who was the favourite to take over from Peter Moores, will begin his role next month.
The new director of England cricket, Andrew Strauss, believes the 52-year-old, who was coach of New South Wales, is the ideal man to take England forward after what has been a troubling 18 months for the international cricket team in all forms of the game.
"Trevor has an outstanding record as coach, has global experience and is very highly regarded in the game, " said Strauss. "He has proved himself in both domestic and international cricket, has a strong reputation for man-management and has shown how to build winning teams in all three formats.
"His expertise in the shorter forms of the game will be vital as we build towards three major ICC events over the next four years; the ICC World T20 tournament in India in 2016 and the ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup which will be staged in England and Wales in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
"Trevor will also work well with Paul Farbrace, an exceptional coach who will continue as assistant coach after helping us to an outstanding victory over New Zealand in the 1st Investec Test of the summer. This has been a very competitive recruitment process and we're grateful to all of the candidates who showed their interest in this role. I'm excited to have him on board."
The fact Bayliss is an Australian will add extra spice when the Ashes begins this summer.
He said: "It's an honour to be appointed England Coach. There's a great opportunity to help Alastair Cook and Eoin Morgan shape the direction and development of their respective teams. I am also looking forward to working alongside Paul Farbrace once again as we have a similar outlook on the game, get on well after two years working together and have kept in touch.
"What particularly excites me about the role is the chance to work with a very talented group of players. I firmly believe that the team has a bright future and I'll be doing everything I can to help them realise their potential and achieve success on a consistent basis."
It did seem, following the departure of Moores, than Strauss was keep to appoint an Australian. He held talks with both Jason Gillespie and Justin Langer, before settling on the experienced and highly-rated Bayliss.
The new coach guided Sri Lanka to the World Cup final in 2011, and has also been head coach of Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
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