Wednesday 27 May 2015 11:22, UK
Newly appointed England head coach Trevor Bayliss says the job represented an opportunity he simply could not turn down.
The 52-year-old Australian has been confirmed as the permanent successor to Peter Moores, who was sacked last month.
Bayliss was selected after a recruitment process led by the ECB’s Director of England cricket Andrew Strauss and he will take charge next month, just in time to face his native country in an eagerly-awaited Ashes series this summer.
He is currently coach of New South Wales but, in the course of his discussions with Strauss, Bayliss says he realised the lure of the England post was too strong to resist.
"It definitely wasn't an easy decision,” said Bayliss. “But, talking to Andrew Strauss, it got to a point where it was something I couldn't refuse.
"It's obviously one of the big jobs in the cricket world.
"To be asked to go on the short-list was good enough. To be successful and get it is an unbelievable feeling, a huge opportunity, and one I'm looking forward to very much.
"The opportunity to go and work with an international team with the history of England, it's a bit hard to comprehend, to be honest."
Bayliss has coached against his own country before, during his successful spell with Sri Lanka and, despite the fact he knows many of the Australian players well, he says he is not conflicted about trying to mastermind their defeat.
"We (Sri Lanka) had some success against them - winning a one-day series in Australia, and beating them in the World Twenty20 in 2009,” he said.
"The way I explained it then is that, in Australia, your toughest battles are against your brothers and best mates in the backyard.
"I do know quite a number of the Australia team very well from New South Wales.
"I expect them to come out and play some tough, hard cricket, and they wouldn't expect anything different from a team I'm coaching either.
"But, at the end of all that, there is respect between the two teams."
