Trevor Bayliss may have told England they needed to “fight fire with fire” if they are to regain the Ashes, but the team’s new Australian coach does not want captain Alastair Cook to change his batting style.
Cook, often criticised for formulaic leadership, saw just about every one of his bowling and fielding changes pay off at Cardiff. He also held three catches, including a stunning effort in an unusual short mid-wicket position to dismiss Brad Haddin on Saturday.
The one downside for Cook was that the opening batsman added just 32 runs in all to his tally of 9,000 which had already seen the 30-year-old left-hander become England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer.
But former Sri Lanka and New South Wales coach Bayliss said there was no need for either Cook or the experienced Ian Bell, who enjoyed a welcome return to form with a second-innings 60 at Sophia Gardens, to abandon the methods that had brought them a combined 49 hundreds in Test cricket.
“My message to Alastair Cook is to go out and play his own way,” said Bayliss. “Certainly, people like Alastair and ‘Belly’ have scored plenty of Test hundreds.
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“My advice to them would be to go out and bat like you always have done. Those two guys are class players and can change their game to suit any situation. The rest of the guys can bat around them.”
England, looking to regain the Ashes after a humiliating 5-0 defeat in Australia in 2013/14, will head to Lord’s for the second Test on Thursday with an unchanged 13-man squad – fast bowler Steven Finn and uncapped leg-spinner Adil Rashid again joining the Cardiff XI.
