Paul Farbrace to step in as England head coach for T20 matches vs Australia, India

Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, will step in as head coach for the upcoming T20 internationals against Australia and India.

The purpose is to allow Trevor Bayliss, who has a rudimentary knowledge of players below the international setup, time to watch England Lions and county cricket. He will be back in place for the three ODIs against India next month.

Bayliss, who is on record as saying he does not believe T20 cricket should be played at international level, will attend the Royal London One-Day Cup Final at Lord’s next Saturday between Kent and Hampshire.

He was in attendance at Derby on Friday as the Lions started their summer with a seven-wicket victory (with 49 balls to spare) over India A, thanks to Nick Gubbins’ unbeaten 128.

India A were earlier limited to 233, thanks to Liam Dawson taking 4-30 and Tom Helm 3-33. The Lions play West Indies A on Saturday.

Farbrace is a long-time sidekick of Bayliss’s – having worked together at Sri Lanka too – and is highly-regarded.

He has been linked with top jobs at Surrey, Kent and Bangladesh, and is thought to have aspirations to take over when Bayliss leaves at the end of the 2019 summer.

England face Australia in the final ODI against Australia on Sunday (England are 4-0 up) at Old Trafford.

The two teams play a one-off T20 at Edgbaston on Wednesday, before England play three games against India in Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol in early July.