Steve Smith is vulnerable at No.3 in English conditions according to Stuart Broad, but in a contrasting assessment the England fast bowler's new head coach, Trevor Bayliss, believes the world's top-ranked batsman is "up to it" and revealed it was his idea to promote Smith to first drop when he was in charge at NSW.

On a sweltering day in which the temperature reached 36 degress Bayliss, in blue jeans and an England polo, was introduced to the English media ahead of the Ashes, chatting with reporters in the Coronation Garden behind the Lord's Pavilion.

It was a sight to see the 52-year-old from Penrith as the toast of the Home of Cricket, where he had only ventured the once previously, as coach of Sri Lanka for the final of the World Twenty20 in 2009.

Bayliss was grilled on the make-up of the England squad, announced on Wednesday, and on what direction he intends to take the old enemy but there was also interest in his knowledge of the Australians, nine of whom he had coached at NSW.

Among them is the prolific Smith, who was singled out by Broad last week as a potential weakness against the new Dukes ball now he is batting so high up the order, with the England seamer claiming to have "a few ideas" to test his technique.

The Australians have been surprised that there is any talk about Smith being vulnerable given the sheer number of runs he has chalked up over the past 18 months.

Bayliss, who also made Smith captain of the Sydney Sixers at the age of 22, was also glowing in his praise of the No.1-rated ICC batsman on Wednesday.

"I think he's up to it," he said of the task of batting high up the order in England. "We tried to get him to bat No.3 two seasons ago. I thought that batting him at No.3 in four-day cricket for NSW would set him up well whether he was batting at five or six for Austrlaia.

"Then the Australian players came back and those things changed. But he has batted at No.3 last season when he did play for us and in the Shield final we won two years ago now. He's a competitor isn't he? We all know his technique is not out of the textbook but he's a competitor. He reads the game and he works out a way with his technique to score runs. If you do that and you're confident in your ability which he is...he's now the world's best batter.

"He's the type of player I think that, faced with any challenges, he will be able to work it out. From England's point of view it will be a case of hopefully getting him into that position where he does have to work something else out and then hopefully staying one step ahead of him."

As Bayliss begins his time in the hot seat as England coach he also a recommedation for his former employers at NSW. The Blues are finalising their hunt for his replacement and while he won't be in the running for such a job while he's still playing Brad Haddin would make a fine coach, according to Bayliss. Haddin is known to have coaching ambitions, with some seeing him as a future Australian mentor.

"He's got the respect of the players and he's obviously a guy that's played at the top level and done well," Bayliss said of the Australian wicketkeeper. "And just his rapport with the players - it doesn't matter whether it's the older players or the younger players, they all gravitate to Hadds. He's a positive character, good to talk to about cricket and even in his role as a captain or a leader of NSW for example, he's very good with the younger players passing on his knowledge.

"I was actually having a few discussions with him about the possibilities of, whenever it (his retirement) happened, hopefully getting him involved somehow with NSW cricket. I think it would be a beneift to NSW cricket if they can get him involved."