KFC Big Bash League (BBL) club Sydney Thunder has appointed World Cup-winning coach Trevor Bayliss as the club’s Head Coach for the next three seasons. The 58-year-old is a highly successful coach who has experience leading both international and franchise T20 teams. He will replace Shane Bond, who stepped down from the position in April due to family reasons.
Bayliss’s extensive career has seen him coach England to its maiden World Cup victory. He also had a coaching spell in the Indian Premier League where he guided Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles. Moreover, Bayliss also helped Sydney Sixers to win the inaugural KFC BBL season.
After being appointed as the coach of Sydney Thunder, Bayliss said, “It’s great to be home and involved in New South Wales cricket. The Thunder have done well over the last few years, Hopefully, we can go one or two steps further this summer. To win as many matches as possible and compete in the Final is my number one goal. Hopefully this year we can get some crowds back into the matches and making plenty of noise. My experience over the years is that these players are at their best when there is some good atmosphere around the match so hopefully, we can put on a good show for the fans.”
Sydney Thunder qualified for the final last season, their first BBL final in three years. They made sure that return to the final was sweet by winning against Perth Scorchers. At the international level, the best spell for Bayliss came with England from 2015 to 2019. He helped England to win the maiden World Cup in 2019. Previously, he coached Sri Lanka between 2007 and 2011, a period which culminated in his team finishing as runners-up in the 2011 World Cup. He has also been appointed as a Head coach for Sunrisers Hyderabad since IPL 2020.