It's a change of tact, rather than direction, for Bayliss...

Laid back and greatly respected,but are these traits enough for Trevor Bayliss to be a success, asks Derek Pringle

While AlastairCook contemplateshis future as England captain preparing turkeys for Xmas on his wife’s farm, Trevor Bayliss, the team’s coach, is recovering from a hernia operation in Australia – clear evidence, if any were needed, that Bayliss has had a gut full of England’s limp performances in India.

As humiliation was being piled upon humiliation for England, Bayliss cut a curious figure as he sat impassive behind his sunglasses and a broad brimmed sunhat, watching the carnage unfold.

To the uninitiated, it might have looked as if he was hiding, or at the very least distancing himself from the horrors being enacted on the pitch. Yet, he wears the same garb and expression even when England are winning which, in case the drubbing in India has brought on amnesia, includes series victories against Australia (at home) and South Africa (away).

The four-nil defeat at the hands of Virat Kohli’s India was his first serious setback as England’s coach in a year where the Test team has been on the slide following a record-equalling eight defeats. The team’s often toothless display in India, and the mistakes made, on and off the pitch with both tactics and selection, would have been a crushing disappointment for which he must accept some of the blame.

Bayliss has been England’s red and white ball coach for 18 months now, long enough for him to impose his philosophy on the players. But here is the thing: does he have any strong thoughts on how England should play Test cricket and if so, would he override Alastair Cook, the captain, should they find themselves not singing from the same hymn sheet?