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England coach upbeat after Test escape

Coach Trevor Bayliss says the England Test team still has work to despite conquering a typical subcontinent spinner's wicket against Bangladesh.

Trevor Bayliss knows England have some deficiencies to iron out but believes they can take great heart from conquering Bangladesh on a spinner's wicket.

The tourists began a seven-Test tour of the subcontinent with a tense 22-run win over the Tigers in Chittagong after Ben Stokes took the last two wickets that England needed on the final morning.

Stokes was able to extract reverse swing out of a pitch that offered plenty of turn from the opening session and it seems likely England will face pitches of similar quality during their five-match series against India, which follows the second Test against Bangladesh.

While worries remain over the frailties of their top order and spin attack, Bayliss thinks edging out the Tigers on a surface that does not traditionally favour England can only benefit them in the long run.

When asked what the positives from the game were, the England head coach told Sky Sports News HQ: "Well, confidence they can play on big, turning, spitting subcontinent wickets.

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"Yes, look we've still got some work to do from both the batting and bowling point of view but they should take confidence out of the fact they can play on these types of wickets."

Bayliss has suggested there will be changes to England's bowling personnel for the second Test, which gets under way in Dhaka on Friday, with one eye on the mammoth series against India.

He added: "From a bowling point of view there might be some rotation. Seven matches in eight weeks is going to be tough for any bowler.

"It's a point of hopefully making sure some of our bowlers can make it through some of those Tests, but also making sure some of the guys who didn't play in this match have an opportunity to actually show what they can do.

"Obviously the Indian one is the big series but we're approaching this as a seven-Test series and seven games in eight weeks is very tough, especially on our bowlers. So I'd be surprised if all our bowlers didn't get a game or two at some stage."


2 min read

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Source: AAP


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