Bayliss emerges as prime candidate

Fresh from his Bupa Sheffield Shield triumph, New South Wales coach Trevor Bayliss has emerged as an unlikely frontrunner to lead England after their limited-overs coach Ashley Giles' star fell in the wake of his team's humiliating World T20 loss to the Netherlands.

Bayliss is reportedly one of four candidates – including Giles – on the shortlist for the job of England coach that was rendered vacant when Andy Flower stepped down after the recent summer's Ashes whitewash.

The Telegraph newspaper in the UK claims that Bayliss has arisen as a surprise name on the shortlist, which also includes former England head coach Peter Moores and successful county coach Mick Newell, because of his previous experience at international level.

In addition to leading NSW to two Shield titles, Bayliss coached Sri Lanka for four years and took them to the 2011 World Cup final and was also coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders when they triumphed in the 2012 Indian Premier League.

Giles was favoured to land the role, but England's disastrous World T20  campaign that ended with an ignominious 45-run loss to an associate nation has seen the former spin bowler branded by some pundits as part of England's problem rather than a potential solution.

Quick Single: Embarrassing day for England

That was certainly the view of Ashes opening batsman Michael Carberry who, in a lengthy interview with The Guardian newspaper in the UK, has heavily criticised Giles' man management skills.

Carberry, who has been excluded from England's T20 and limited-overs fixtures since the Ashes series despite being the tourists' second-top scorer in that series and a regular member of their one-day set-up prior to that, cast doubt on Giles'credentials to take over the coach's role.

He told The Guardian his frustration came to a head during the final Carlton Mid ODI Series match in Adelaide last January when he had received no explanation from Giles – who had taken over the squad in his capacity as England's limited-overs coach – for again being overlooked.

"It's that age-old word, man-management," Carberry said.

"I had a brief chat with Ashley during the fifth ODI in Adelaide.

"His response was that he didn't really know. If you don't know mate, I sure as hell won't know.

"But it's the way they tend to do things. 

"I don't think it's me alone saying this sort of thing. There have been players before me and players now who have felt the same thing."

Carberry's criticism, which also included a strong defence of his former Hampshire and England teammate Kevin Pietersen, was made before the loss to the Netherlands which has unleashed some stinging critiques in the English press.

Quick Single: England v Netherlands full recap

It has also cast doubt over Stuart Broad's future as captain of England's T20 team, as well as Giles' position as limited-overs coach given that his win-loss record for the past English summer stands at four wins and 11 losses from 15 matches.

"Surely Ashley Giles must get the job now, 11 loses 4 wins, who are the Netherlands?" former England batsman Allan Lamb mockingly tweeted shortly after the Dutch triumphed in Chittagong.

The Sun newspaper's veteran cricket correspondent John Etheridge was equally incredulous when he tweeted during the match: "What do you say about this?  Complacent?  Or just bloody hopeless?  Or both?"

Writers and former players lined up to critique England's performance, with Jonathan Liew leading the charge in The Telegraph.

"Whether a tight finish or a stroll in the park, it is devilishly hard to make Twenty20 cricket genuinely dull," Liew wrote.

"And yet somehow, with their last drop of collective mediocrity, their last ounce of dispassion, England managed it: the final act of a winter in which they have set new standards for future generations to avoid.

"Our children's children will ask us whether the infamous England team of 2013/14 really was as bad as everyone says. 'Worse,' we will tell them. 'Much, much worse'."

The Times' cricket correspondent Richard Hobson lamented England's dismissal for 88, the lowest T20 total posted by a full Test nation against an associate team: "We have long since come to terms with England no longer being the leading Test team in the world (but) we were entitled to think that they remained the best in Europe at Twenty20.

"At least when England lost to the Netherlands at Lord's in 2009, they took the associate side to the last ball. 

"Defeat yesterday was a hammering in 20-over terms against a side who lost their one-day status two months ago after failing to qualify for the 2015 World Cup."

In the Daily Mail, Lawrence Booth opined: "Just when you thought it was safe to come out from behind the sofa, England produced one final horror show to rank with any in this benighted winter.

"England performed competently with the ball on a slow surface, dragging back a decent Dutch start to limit them to 133 for five. It ought to have been a tiptoe through the tulips.

"But their own innings was a catalogue of hesitancy, mindless shot selection and plain old fear."

Former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton were more measured but no less incredulous in their assessment of their nation's inability to come to grips with the low, slow conditions in Chittagong to which the Dutch adapted far more readily.

"When there's pace on the ball, and it's going through to the keeper and nibbling around under lights, (England) are fine because it's the kind of cricket they play at home," Hussain wrote in the Daily Mail.

"But the moment they get on a dry track with no pace on it, and the opposition are sending down all kinds of slower balls, England are clueless. 

"It's just not the style of cricket they play.  Unfortunately for them, it's the style you need to succeed in limited-overs cricket in this part of the world."

Atherton also highlighted England's inability to adapt their game plan when he wrote in The Times: "England were thrashed by the Netherlands yesterday. The Netherlands. 

"The (England) captain and coach thought their team 'complacent'. Clueless more like."

The only possible consolation is that, heading into the final round of World T20 matches this evening, they had at least managed to post one more victory than their Ashes rivals who must overcome host nation Bangladesh tonight to avoid the similar embarrassment of a winless campaign.