Sydney Thunder part ways with coach Trevor Bayliss

After Sydney Thunder fired Trevor Bayliss after five seasons in charge, both clubs in the Sydney BBL are looking for a new coach. England's ODI World Cup victory in 2019 was led by Bayliss, who also coached Thunder to three straight top-four finishes, including a trip to the final in 2024-25 against Hobart Hurricanes. However, following that appearance in the finals, they finished last in both the 2023–24 season and the most recent one. Bayliss was out of contract and a mutual decision was made not to renew the deal. The announcement comes just a few weeks after Sydney Sixers fired coach Greg Shipperd with one year left on his contract. Shipperd had led Sixers to the BBL final for the seventh time during his tenure, two of which resulted in titles. With one year remaining on his contract, Shipperd will also step down as New South Wales coach at the end of the season. While Shipperd expressed disappointment at not being able to continue, Bayliss knew his time was up with Thunder. "Across my career I've never stayed anywhere much longer than four or five years," Bayliss said in a statement. "It seems like the right time for a new voice to steer the group in the right direction. "Making the final last year was a great achievement. Even though coming so close showed how far the group had come, it was disappointing to come so close. It was great to see the players rise to the occasion and win some close games. "There have been numerous proud moments, both from an individual and a team perspective. Watching players perform at their best, particularly in the season we reached the final, was a privilege. As a coach, those are the things you remember." "This past season's results certainly didn't go to plan, but Trevor departs with our sincere thanks and best wishes for the future," Copeland said. "As part of our annual post‑season review, we mutually agreed that now is the right time to look at how we can refresh and revitalise our high‑performance setup and search globally for a world-class T20 head coach to take us forward to not just success in BBL|16, but prolonged success into the future."