Supercoach reveals secret to success

Trevor Bayliss, the man responsible for guiding the NSW Blues and Kolkata Knight Riders to glory this year, believes less is more when it comes to coaching cricket at the highest level.

Having recently returned from another successful season in the Indian Premier League, Bayliss says when it comes to coaching talented cricketers from all over the world, the key is keeping it simple.

“It’s maybe a little simpler than some make out sometimes,” Bayliss told cricket.com.au

“At that level, and especially at the IPL, you can’t coach; it’s more a management type thing.”

“They guys are actually there because they can play cricket. It’s about getting them into a good head space.

“Around the squad you need an honest, hard-working environment that allows less pressure on the players.

“If they’re mentally fresh they’ll go out and perform at their best.

“You can’t make wholesale changes at that level. You might make the odd small suggestion, but they’re there because they can play cricket, so let them go out and do it.

“That’s my whole process, trying not to over-coach.”

Kolkata came from the dead to claim the franchise’s second IPL title this year, winning their last nine games to defeat George Bailey’s Kings XI Punjab in the final.

Not once did Bayliss or his chargers hit the panic button, knowing the team had been in similarly dire straits two years ago only to come from the clouds and win the tournament.

“We thought we had the strongest bowling attack throughout but our batting wasn’t clicking,” said Bayliss.

“We thought when that started to click we’d compete well with other teams.

“A couple of years ago we were a little bit the same and we strung seven wins together back then, (and) we knew if we got on a roll we could put some wins together and we ended up with nine in a row.

“The boys never lost hope, that’s for sure.”

Bayliss was one of four men reported to be in the running for the England head coaching job after Andy Flower stepped down following the 5-0 Ashes humiliation and fallout with star batsman Kevin Pietersen.

England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Paul Downton contacted Bayliss and invited him to England, but a scheduling conflict with the start of the IPL meant a video link was organised.

“I did actually say no originally, and they rang back and wanted to keep having a chat,” said Bayliss.

“In the end I said ‘OK, I’ll have a chat’. As I said to them, it didn’t really bother me whether they gave it to me or not. I was quite happy doing what I’m doing with the Knight Riders and New South Wales and Sixers.

“I was prepared to listen to what they had to say. They were upfront to start with, they said there was a large contingent of their board over there that thought they wanted a local guy.

“A lot of people thought they wanted someone from the outside to change things around.

“So I said, 'If that’s the case and if you want me OK, if not, it’s not going to concern me'. In the end they made the decision to go with a local coach and that’s fine.”

The ECB board did indeed prefer a local option, Lancashire’s Peter Moores, who, along with national selector James Whitaker picked Australian-born Sam Robson to make his Test debut at Lord’s next Thursday against Sri Lanka, the country Bayliss coached for four years.

Bayliss replaced countryman Tom Moody as Sri Lanka’s head coach in August 2007, taking his team to the 2011 World Cup final after which he resigned.

He then became the Sydney Sixers inaugural head coach, winning the first season of Australia’s revamped T20 domestic competition, the KFC T20 Big Bash League before taking out the Champions League T20 title undefeated in 2012.

The 51-year-old is now full-time head coach of NSW, and despite being happy doing what he’s doing, he hasn’t ruled out returning to the international stage someday.

“You never say never I suppose, if the right offer came along,” he said.

“But I’m very comfortable doing what I’m doing just at the moment. You’d have a look at anything that was offered to you.

“My youngest kid has got a couple of years left at school, so after that you never know what might happen.”