London Spirit have announced Trevor Bayliss as their new interim head coach ahead of The Hundred Draft; the England World Cup-winning coach succeeds the late Shane Warne, who led the team in last year's competition; Bayliss will initially take charge for a year
Monday 4 April 2022 12:34, UK
Ahead of The Hundred Men's Draft, London Spirit have named England's World Cup-winning coach Trevor Bayliss as interim men's head coach following the tragic passing of Shane Warne.
Warne led the Spirit in last year's inaugural competition and, in a statement, the team said, "further planned tributes to Shane will be announced shortly as the game looks at ways to remember one of the greatest ever cricketers and personalities."
Bayliss, who coached England for four years, will be reunited with Eoin Morgan at Lord's, the scene of the pair's greatest triumph together as England beat New Zealand in an incredible 2019 World Cup final.
Bayliss has also enjoyed great success in franchise T20 competitions around the world, winning the first-ever Big Bash League with Sydney Sixers in 2011-12 and claimed two Indian Premier League titles in his time in charge of Kolkata Knight Riders.
"It is obviously very bittersweet to take the role given the circumstances," Bayliss said. "It is an honour to try and build on the work Warnie started. The side knew what he and Eoin were trying to build and I hope we can do that this year."
London Spirit team manager, Fraser Stewart, added: "This is a situation none of us ever wanted to be in and all of our thoughts remain with Shane's family and what is such a heart-breaking time.
"We were so lucky to work with Shane last year and we hope that the team will play in a style that he would have been proud of this summer. Trevor and Eoin and completely committed to that and we hope they can give our fans a reason to smile."
After being identified as the leading candidate, Bayliss will initially take the role for one year and will help the Spirit as they take the prized first pick in today's draft. They can add two overseas players to a squad that already includes Morgan, Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and England internationals Zak Crawley, Dan Lawrence and Mark Wood.
The picks will be announced from midday on Tuesday alongside a number of exciting signings and player movements in The Hundred women's competition.
Tickets for The Hundred go on sale on Tuesday to anyone signed up at thehundred.com with tickets going on general sale on 20 April.
