Key Ashes Battle: Bayliss vs Lehmann

	Head-to-Head
	Trevor Bayliss	Darren Lehmann
Age	52	45
International Experience	Sri Lanka Coach 2007-2011England Coach 2015-Present	Australia Coach 2013-Present
Greatest Achievements	Runner-up in 2009 World T20Runner-up in 2011 World Cup	Winning 2013/14 AshesWinning 2015 World Cup

While this summer’s Ashes series will be decided by the players on the field, it will also be influenced by how the two coaches go about preparing their teams and ensuring their players are in the best possible shape and form. This time around, both teams will be coached by Australians, with Darren Lehmann leading the Australians and Trevor Bayliss taking charge of the England side.

After Peter Moores was dismissed, England turned to Trevor Bayliss to take over as their Head Coach. He comes with a wealth of experience, having previously been in charge of Sri Lanka, and has won both the Big Bash and the IPL. However, he has never before experienced an Ashes series and questions have been asked whether or not and Australian should be leading the England side.

Bayliss has been described as a man who likes to take a back seat and is seen as a calm character, something with could prove useful in the heat of battle. He has not worked with English players before, but he will have Paul Farbrace, the man who transformed England’s one-day side, as his right hand man, meaning there will be familiarity in the dressing room. There is no doubting that Bayliss has a talented squad to work with, and if he can get the best out of his players then he could well be victorious in his first Ashes series.

Darren Lehmann was the man Australia chose to lead them into the 2013 Ashes series, with the side in disarray after ‘homework gate.’ Although Lehmann could not prevent a 3-0 series defeat, it became clear he had transformed the dressing room and had changed the mind-set of his Australian players after encouraging them to play a more attacking brand of cricket.

Two years on and Lehmann is an Ashes winner and a World champion. His relaxed style has worked well and he has rebuilt an Australian team that looked like it couldn’t compete to one that the country is proud of again. It should not be under-estimated how well ‘Boof’ has done in his job, reinvigorating old pros such as Chris Rodgers and Mitchell Johnson but also bringing on new talent such as Mitchell Starc and Steven Smith. He is well liked by the media and respected by his players, and will be hoping his stellar reputation remains in tact over the summer.

Both men are fine coaches and both teams will be confident with them at the helm. However, even though Lehmann has had a huge impact on Australia, even he wasn’t able to hit the ground running and win his first Ashes series in charge of Australia, showing just how difficult Bayliss’ job will be. While both men will prepare the teams to the best of their ability, once the match starts there is little they can do and they will be hoping their teams rise to the occasions rather than struggling the pressure.