Trevor Bayliss backs Paul Farbrace to succeed him as England coach
"When I was a number two years ago, a bloke said to me 'the role of the number two is to make the number one look good' and I think he's done a good job in that respect."
Tuesday 20 February 2018 11:56, UK
Trevor Bayliss has backed England assistant coach Paul Farbrace to take the top job when he steps down after the 2019 Ashes series.
Farbrace took temporary charge of England in 2015, in between Peter Moores' sacking and Bayliss' appointment, and coached Sri Lanka to the 2014 ICC World T20 title in Bangladesh.
"I think Farbrace would do a grand job," said Bayliss. "He's had experience around the world now with Sri Lanka and England.
"When I was a number two, years ago, a bloke said to me 'the role of the number two is to make the number one look good' and I think he's done a good job in that respect.
"He's very well respected among the group of players and he knows the England system very well. He's a very personable guy, has a good relationship with the players and he's a good coach."
Bayliss told Sky Sports on Sunday that he would like to see Twenty20 internationals scrapped outside of World Cups - and says he would be willing to hand over the reins in that format if the ECB wanted to hire a specialist Twenty20 coach, suggesting Farbrace could fill the role.
"That will obviously be a discussion with higher levels, with Andrew Strauss and people like that," said Bayliss. "If that was what they thought was the way to go ahead, I'd be all for it.
"If not, I am more than happy to keep going and work with these guys towards that next T20 World Cup [in Australia in 2020].
"[Farbrace and I] work pretty closely together. If that's what [England] wanted to do, I don't think it would be too much of a problem at all."
On players balancing red and white-ball commitments, Bayliss added: "If you play every form of the game - we have a few guys who do that - there is no way you can play every game.
"Your career would be three or four years long and that would be it. Something has got to give.
"There's no denying you're in the game because you love it but it's also a living for the players and they've got to make a decision based on what's best for them over a long period of time.
"Their careers are usually over by the time they are 35."
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