England coach Trevor Bayliss has warned his batsmen that they will have to produce big scores in order to win the upcoming Ashes series against bitter rivals Australia. England take on Australia in a traditional five-match Test and ODI series that stretches from November 23 till January 28. Bayliss expects his players to play up to their full potential in a tiring tour in the land Down Under.
The England batsmen struck five half-centuries on their way to a 192-run victory in a four-day warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI.
But none of them could go above the mid-sixties and the visitors also showed a tendency to lose early wickets.
"Sixties aren't enough. We need 160s. Batting collapses have been a concern for us for a little while. We have games like that, where we lose wickets like that, and it is a concern," said Bayliss as media reports suggest.
"The batsmen realise they have got to do better and they are working hard to do that," he added.
With the Ashes scheduled to begin on November 23, the 54-year-old urged the England batsmen to tune up their form in the final warm-up match which starts in Townsville on Wednesday.
"By all accounts, the wicket in Townsville is a pretty good one. It's quite flat. Hopefully, that will help our batters make some big scores. Not just spend time in the middle, but make 100s. That's definitely what we will need throughout this Test series," Bayliss said.
"It would be great if we could have some hundreds, that's for sure. Obviously, once the Test series comes around, the intensity of that competition, hopefully, that really kicks our batters into gear."
(With IANS Inputs)
