London: Jason Gillespie believes England have got the right man in Trevor Bayliss to take over as England’s head coach.
The Yorkshire coach learned he had been overlooked for the role earlier yesterday when he was informed he was not the ECB’s “preferred candidate” in a telephone call with the England director of cricket, Andrew Strauss, before day two of the County Championship match at Somerset.
The 40-year-old Australian praised Strauss and the ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, for the way they have dealt with the situation, and said he is looking forward to leading Yorkshire’s hunt for trophies and his winter role with the Adelaide Strikers in Australia’s Big Bash League.
Gillespie did admit that while the time spent away from home would have made any job offer a tough decision, he probably still “would have jumped at it”.
“If it is Trevor, I’m fully supportive of it,” Gillespie said. “He is a very good operator, and I’ve only heard good things about him. Paul Farbrace speaks very highly of him in his time he worked with him, so I can’t say anything negative. England wanted a coach with a proven track record and if it is Trevor, as it appears likely that it is, his track record’s absolutely unbelievable. I’ve got absolutely no qualms about that. If I put myself in Andrew’s shoes, I’d probably make the same decision, if I’m honest.
“I knew before the news came out. I spoke to Andrew early this morning, so I’ve got absolutely no problem. One thing that has really impressed me has been how Andrew and Tom have gone through this. I know there has been a lot of media and we’ve seen a lot of leaks and what not, but I can’t speak highly enough of Andrew and Tom.
“They made it very clear they were speaking to a number of people and they’d let me know in due course, as they would with all the other candidates. I don’t know how many people they spoke to but they’ve been absolutely fine.”
Gillespie insisted he had no issue with the decision by Strauss to keep Kevin Pietersen out of his plans going forward. “They made it very clear they’ve got a stance and I didn’t have a problem with it,” he added. “That certainly wasn’t any issue.”
Gillespie has received numerous tweets from Yorkshire supporters along the lines of “Don’t go, Dizzy”. He said: “It makes you feel good that you feel valued and wanted. Just incredibly flattered at all the support I’ve been getting. It is very humbling in a way.”