England head coach Trevor Bayliss said he did not like the amount of sledging going on in the Ashes but acknowledged it was part of the game (1:29)
England coach Trevor Bayliss has admitted he is not comfortable with the sledging that has characterised the early days of the current Ashes series and feels stump microphones should be “turned down” in an attempt to avoid negatively influencing the next generation of cricketers.
After Australia flustered Jonny Bairstow in Brisbane with talk of him head-butting Cameron Bancroft, England have hit back in Adelaide with the umpires stepping in between James Anderson and Steven Smith at one point on the first day and Stuart Broad roaring in the face of Peter Handscomb after dismissing him in the opening over on the second day.
But Bayliss, previously close to many of the Australia players as coach of New South Wales and Sydney Sixers, categorically denied he was involved in any plans to sledge the Australia players
“Personally, from my point of view, I’m probably not [comfortable with the sledging],” Bayliss said. “And it’s certainly not something I’m involved in planning.
“But it’s just the way the game is these days. I’d like to see the stump microphones turned down. I don’t think they are necessarily a great thing for young kids watching at home. I don’t think anyone has to listen to what is being said. But it’s grown men playing a very competitive sport and sometimes those emotions boil over.
“It’s just red blooded young males competing against each other. Most of the time it’s fairly light hearted. Sometimes there’s a lot more made of it in the press than what happens in the field.”
Meanwhile, Bayliss said Joe Root would make the same decision over bowling first if he won the toss again. Accepting that England had “bowled a little short” on the first morning, Bayliss felt they had subsequently adjusted well.
“He wouldn’t do anything different,” Bayliss said. “It’s well documented that one of our challenges is taking wickets on flatter wickets. So Joe wanted to give our guys the best opportunity to take 20 wickets. It didn’t work out, although I thought we bowled pretty well.
“Look, it wasn’t an easy decision. It wasn’t taken lightly. But for us to win games, you want to take 20 wickets. Joe thought if we bowled first on a fresh wicket it would provide our best opportunity. We bowled pretty well and didn’t get the results we thought we deserved.”
And, while Bayliss accepted that Australia’s attack had more pace, he felt England still had the weapons to make inroads on surfaces such as the one in Adelaide.
“It’s well documented they’ve got three guys who are quicker than ours,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean they’re impossible to play. You’ve still got to be able to move the ball.
“Certainly on that wicket, the bowlers we’ve got are more than capable of taking wickets and creating chance. The bowlers we’ve got are the bowlers we’ve got. There is no point wishing someone could come along with a click of the fingers.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo