by Our Sports Desk

England’s new Australian coach Trevor Bayliss is still getting his head round the prospect of taking on his native country again — but admitted yesterday that it was an opportunity he simply could not refuse.

Bayliss, set to arrive in England next month in time for the start of the Ashes in July, will renew a successful partnership with assistant coach and current caretaker Paul Farbrace after their time together in charge of Sri Lanka.

England and Wales Cricket Board director Andrew Strauss praised the 52-year-old’s “outstanding record as a coach” and described Bayliss’s “expertise in the shorter forms of the game” as “vital” — with a Champions Trophy and then World Cup set to be played in this country in the next four years.

It was in the course of his discussions with Strauss, before Bayliss’s appointment was confirmed by the ECB, that he realised this was a chance he simply had to take.

His allegiance to his current role as New South Wales coach meant it was no easy decision but, ultimately, an inevitable one to accept the position which became available after England sacked Peter Moores this month.

“It definitely wasn’t an easy decision but talking to Andrew Strauss, it got to a point where it was something I couldn’t refuse,” Bayliss said.

“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.”

This summer’s Ashes rematch with tourists who whitewashed England 5-0 down under in 2013-14 will be Bayliss’s most immediate and highly important focus — but Strauss is looking further ahead too, to the global tournaments to come.

He added: “His expertise in the shorter forms of the game will be vital as we build towards three major ICC events over the next four years: the ICC World T20 tournament in India in 2016 and the ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup, which will be staged in England and Wales in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

“Trevor will also work well with Paul Farbrace, an exceptional coach who will continue as assistant coach after helping us to an outstanding victory over New Zealand in the first Test of the summer.”