Trevor Bayliss says England are ready for 'sterner tests' after ODI wins over Ireland
Sunday 7 May 2017 20:59, UK
England coach Trevor Bayliss was ready for the tougher tests to come after his side completed a 2-0 one-day series win over Ireland.
England won by 85 runs at Lord's to ensure they followed up their 3-0 series win over the West Indies in March with another whitewash.
And Bayliss told Sky Sports 2: "It's nice to start the summer with two wins, and we've had some good performances in those games.
"We know there are sterner tests coming up, with South Africa in a couple of weeks' time and then the Champions Trophy coming up after that, but we have won well and we can't do anything more than that."
Having rotated his squad against Ireland, Bayliss could revert to the norm against the Proteas but admitted Jonny Bairstow, with a blistering 72 not out, and Mark Wood with two wickets, had staked a strong claim.
"We'll go into those three games wanting to win that series," he said. "Hopefully we're 2-0 up with one to go and we'll have a look at them then.
"I think there's probably not a lot between the three keepers but the amount of runs Jonny scores, it'd be hard to leave him out. Every time we give him a go, he gets the job done for us.
"Wood brings a bit of extra pace, he's got that X-factor - he's our quickest bowler, he can get the ball to reverse as well and he can be hard to handle.
"In the short term we'll probably have to keep a close eye on (his fitness) but as he gets overs under his belt, I think he can perform in all formats."
Joe Root was named man of the match after scoring 73, in a partnership of 140 with captain Eoin Morgan (76), and then taking an ODI-best 3-52.
The Yorkshireman, England's new Test skipper, said: "We're building momentum towards the Champions Trophy and this was another step towards that.
"We want to be put under pressure just before a major tournament, it'll be great to see how the lads respond to that (against South Africa)."
Regarding his bowling, he added: "It's a great position to be in, if you've got guys in there who, if need be, can help Eoin out and bowl a few overs, and I was happy to do that today."
Ireland skipper William Porterfield hailed his team's improvement from their seven-wicket thumping in the first ODI, as they responded to England's 328-6 with a creditable 243.
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"I thought we were much improved today," Porterfield said. "We kept going while that big partnership was happening, we got (Root and Morgan) out, but Bairstow did well at the end and got them to a big total.
"And even with the bat, we were probably just a couple of wickets behind the game most of the way. If we had a couple more in hand at the end, we were in the game."
