Bayliss: Lord's pitch played into Australia's hands
England head coach Trevor Bayliss wants to see a wicket "with more in it" for the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston.
Trevor Bayliss felt a flat Lord's pitch played into Australia's hands as they levelled the Ashes series in emphatic fashion and the England head coach hopes the surface at Edgbaston will offer more for his bowling attack.
After the high of winning the first Test in Cardiff, England were brought back down to earth with a bang when the tourists consigned them to a crushing 405-run defeat inside four days.
Mitchell Johnson took three wickets in each innings, while Josh Hazlewood picked up five wickets in the match after Steve Smith had scored an outstanding double century in Australia's huge first innings total of 566-8 declared.
England were skittled out for a pitiful 103 in their second innings on Sunday and Bayliss is hoping a combination of a track to suit the England's bowlers along with an improved display with the bat will enable the hosts to respond in Birmingham - with the third Test starting next Wednesday.
He said: "We have got no control over what the wickets are like [at Edgbaston]. Certainly a flat wicket plays into the Australians' hands.
"I think if the wicket has got a bit of seam in it - we want to win this series and for anyone to win a series you need to take 20 wickets per match. And I think a flat wicket suits not only their batters, but the bowling attack they have got more than it does ours.
"I would like to see a wicket with more in it. It might mean it is more difficult for us to bat on it, but if we can take 20 wickets, even if they take 20 wickets there is still a chance of winning."
Bayliss also urged his England players to concentrate on their strengths rather than the threat Australia pose.
"It's a big turnaround isn't it from the first to the second? I suppose you have got to take the good with the bad," he added.
"We knew Australia would come back hard at us and maybe we didn't actually concentrate on what we were doing, like we did in Cardiff. In Cardiff we were very focused on what our jobs were individually.
"Yeah, maybe we spent a little bit too much time thinking about how hard Australia would come back. So I think going forward to the next game that we get back into that mode - we just worry about what we're doing."