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Bayliss heartened by England's dejection

England's Australian coach Trevor Bayliss was buoyed by his players' reactions following their shock Test loss to the West Indies.

Joe Root and Alastair Cook.
A dejected Alastair Cook, right, and Joe Root, far left, during England's loss to the West Indies. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Trevor Bayliss was heartened by England's dejection in the wake of their surprise five-wicket loss to the West Indies in the second Test and is counting on a response in the decider at Lord's.

England ran afoul of a rejuvenated Windies, who bounced back from their Edgbaston trouncing to square the series at Headingley by chasing down 322 on a tense final day.

The tourists were given the opportunity to go for what was their fourth highest successful run chase of all time by Joe Root declaring England's innings late on the penultimate day when they still had two wickets in hand.

But Bayliss backed the England skipper to continue with a positive mindset as he tipped his troops to bounce back.

"They were hurting and to me that's a good thing," the Australian said.

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"If the team is hurting after a loss, it means something to them. I'm sure they will be fully focused and ready to put things right in the next Test.

"I hope the result doesn't change the way (Root) thinks about the game. In that situation, more times than not, we'll win more than we lose.

"I'd like to see the same sort of thought process happening in the future."

England named an unchanged 13-man squad for the third Test, which gets under way on September 7, meaning Mark Stoneman, Tom Westley and Dawid Malan can cement their place in the batting order ahead of the Ashes.

Westley registered single-figure scores in both knocks at Leeds, while Stoneman and Malan each made half-centuries in the second innings to bolster their claims for a trip to Australia. Bayliss was cheered by what he saw from the pair.

"I suppose more than anything, they started to look comfortable at the crease, if that's possible in a Test match," he said.

"Certainly, Mark looks like a tough type of player to me. He looks like he's ready for a scrap the whole time but, when the bad ball comes along, he is able to put it away.

"This last Test match will be another opportunity for them to really nail it down. They have started to look comfortable and they can both play off the back foot so the signs are looking good.

"But, as you know, we've said that before and we've had a change after a few more matches. I still have fingers crossed for them."


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