Bayliss looks for England to kick-on in T20s

22 Nov 2015 | Cricket
Head Coach Trevor Bayliss has urged England to continue the momentum from their one-day international series victory against Pakistan in the forthcoming three Twenty20s.
With one eye already on next spring's World Twenty20, Bayliss believes England's final assignment in the United Arab Emirates could provide an indicator of their chances in India.

Jos Buttler, in particular, ensured he will be one to watch after his record-breaking 46-ball hundred on Friday inspired England to an 84-run win in Dubai and an overall 3-1 ODI series triumph, a result that Bayliss hopes can instil plenty of confidence in his charges.

It's great to win away from home, especially on the sub-continent against a team like Pakistan who are playing in conditions they know very well, he said.

They should have a lot of confidence from the way they've played, going into the three Twenty20 matches - knowing they can play in these conditions against this quality of opposition.

It's another step on the way to that World Cup in March and April. We want to play this Twenty20 series and win that as well as we possibly can, but it's also a bit of a testing ground.

Buttler's heroic effort was the catalyst for the series-clinching victory, with the wicketkeeper-batsman smashing the fastest hundred by an Englishman - breaking his own record by 15 balls.

The 25-year-old has registered England's three quickest ODI centuries - all of which have come in the past 18 months - and his prowess left Bayliss dumbfounded.

I'm not sure if I've got words to describe it. It was fantastic, he said. I wish we could bottle some it and give it to everyone else.

There's very few in the world who can play like that - conventional shots, but also shots that are not in the coaching manual, and hit them off the middle of the bat.

But there have been other notable performances during the tour, with Jason Roy breaking his century duck in ODIs yesterday and fellow opener Alex Hales doing likewise in the second match in Abu Dhabi.

Chris Woakes meanwhile, bagged two four-wicket hauls on sluggish tracks, while fellow seamers David Willey and Reece Topley as well as spin duo Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid proved threatening on occasion, leaving Bayliss to salute a real team effort.

They're enjoying their cricket; they're enjoying each other's company and each other's success - and it's showing out on the field, said Bayliss.

There have been some fantastic innings in this series. Everyone in the top six has contributed more than once.

So too have the bowlers and it's added up to a fine performance.

While Bayliss acknowledges this is another building block on the road to their ultimate challenge of winning the 2019 World Cup on home soil, he is by no means getting carried away by their success.

Our goal is obviously a World Cup in four years' time, but there's no use thinking about that right now, he added.

We've got a lot of hard work to do between now and then. Yes, it's good to win matches and series like we did, but we can't rest on our laurels.

England will return to The SSE SWALEC in Cardiff next year for the Royal London One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Adult tickets start at £35 with further discounts in place for families and under 17s. Click here to secure your seats.