Trevor Bayliss: England's new head coach faces a familiar foe in the Ashes

England are no strangers to hiring foreign coaches. Trevor Bayliss is the latest, following the successful reigns of Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower.

There is one difference though, and it is quite a significant one. He’s Australian. And on top of that, his first series in charge is the Investec Ashes against Australia.

With that in mind, Sky Sports looks at other famous examples of coaches tasked with switching sides…

Brian Clough

Football is littered with them, but Brian Clough was perhaps the highest profile coach to ever to switch sides. He moved from Derby County (via Brighton & Hove Albion) to their bitter title rivals, Leeds United in 1974, famously telling his players on arrival to chuck away their medals because they had won them all by cheating.

He lasted only 44 days in charge of Leeds before being sacked, after which he dealt Derby another blow by joining East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest, winning a couple of European Cups with them for good measure.

Ivaylo Petev

Staying with football, some further examples include Harry Redknapp’s switch from Portsmouth to Southampton, and back again, George Graham managing Spurs after nearly a decade in charge of North London rivals, Arsenal, and Danny Wilson’s not-so welcoming party at Sheffield United after his time at city rivals Wednesday.

None have been as bizarre though as Bulgarian Ivaylo Petev’s arrival at Levski Sofia in 2013. He was attacked at his press conference by angry fans – believing him to be a fan of rivals CSKA Sofia – who pulled his top off and forced him out of the room. He resigned a day later.

Floyd Mayweather Sr

In 2007, Oscar De La Hoya fought Floyd Mayweather Jr in a super-welterweight battle at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, the bout was the most lucrative boxing match ever, with over $130 million in generated revenue. But an incredible subplot to the fight was whether De La Hoya would have Mayweather Sr – his trainer since 2001 – in his corner against his son.

Floyd’s estranged father initially refused, before then demanding a $2 million fee in light of the fight’s astronomical earnings. De Le Hoya refused and so Mayweather Sr tried to reconnect with his son, only to be snubbed again as Floyd retained his uncle, Roger Mayweather, as his trainer.

Robbie Deans

Former All Black, Robbie Deans, was building up an impressive resume as a coach, more impressive than that of his five caps as a player. He led Crusaders to their third successive Super 12 title in his first year in charge in 2000, and won a further four across the next few years.

He had a spell as assistant coach of the All Blacks and appeared to be next in line for the top job, until he jumped ship in 2007 and became Australia’s first ever foreign coach. His reign started in impressive fashion, leading the Aussies to their largest win over the All Blacks for nine years, but it was one of only three victories in 18 matches against his country of birth, before losing his job in 2013.

Ian Millward

Switching rugby codes, and to the club game, Ian Millward had built himself quite a reputation as coach of St Helens, with a win percentage of 75% across his five years in charge along with a pair of Super League Grand Final and Challenge Cup wins, and the 2001 World Club Challenge.

Millward left the Saints in 2005 under a bit of a cloud though due to disciplinary issues and then joined arch rivals Wigan within a month. His time there was a disaster, presiding over a 75-0 defeat to his former club, before ultimately leaving in 2006 with Wigan bottom of the table.

Terry Venables

Ok so it wasn’t quite the England to Australia betrayal that it might look from the outside, as the two countries tend to confine their dislike for each other to the cricket pitch rather than the football field. But Venables will have some idea of what Bayliss is going through, although in reverse, after leaving England in the wake of their memorable run to the Euro 1996 semi-finals to join the Socceroos.

Venables did well to lead Australia to the final of the 1997 Confederations Cup – where they lost to Brazil – but after being beaten by Iran in a play-off for a spot in the 1998 World Cup, he resigned.

Watch the first Ashes Test between England and Australia, which gets underway on July 8. Coverage begins on the Sky Sports Ashes channel at 10am.