ICC World Cup 2019 | England are not scared of chasing against Australia, asserts Trevor Bayliss

While England batted first against India and New Zealand in their last two league games and even had a significant advantage on the surfaces which became slower eventually, their batting second record has not been great in this World Cup. It has also been a general trend in this World Cup, as the side batting first has won 27 and lost 14 games. 

In the last 20 matches, when the atmosphere became drier and more responsive to slower balls and cutters, the team batting first have won 16 games and lost only four. However, Bayliss believes that England's long-term record batting second can help them against Australia and is confident that his team can overcome Australia even if they lose the toss.

"Batting second doesn't scare our guys.It is why we lost the previous two matches [against Australia and Sri Lanka]: we batted second. But I think we have won of the last 17 times we batted second and the wickets are a little better now than they were earlier in the tournament,” Bayliss told BBC.

The dry weather conditions have provided enough time for the groundsmen to relook their pitch preparation and the gap between the league stage and the knock-out games will also work in their favour. If England are to take advantage of such conditions, they will have to rely heavily on their opening pair of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow. Bayliss was all praise for the duo and stated that there is a chance Roy may even feature in the upcoming Ashes series.

"They've done extremely well," Bayliss said. "The way Jason goes about his batting gives a lot of confidence to the rest of the batting line-up and makes their job a hell of a lot easier.

"Could he feature in the Ashes? I think so. Whether it's at the top of the order or at No 3. There's no secret that we've been looking for a solid combination in the top order in Test cricket, especially since Alastair Cook retired last year. Jason has had success at international cricket and that goes a long way to being able to handle the pressure. I's a definite option and one we have spoken about around the selection table for the last 12 months or so. I'm quite sure that will be a big discussion point in the next few weeks."