Published: Sep 07, 2015, 01:57 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 07, 2015, 03:17 PM (IST)
George Bailey, born September 7, 1982, the always-smiling face of Cricket and former Australian Twenty20 International captain, turned a year older on September 7. Although he doesn’t have excellent numbers in the international level to back his potential, the fact that he had become the first player since Dave Gregory in the first Test match in 1877, to be named captain in his first match for Australia in any format says a lot about his growth as a cricket in the recent times. The first game of the T20I series in 2012 against India Down Under was his first international cap and after that he has been a part of 60 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), 28 T20Is and five Tests. READ: England vs Australia, 2nd ODI at Lord’s: Steven Smith, George Bailey bring up half-centuries
The 33-year-old’s terrific record with the First-Class side Tasmania, captaining them to two Sheffield Shield titles—2010-11 and 2012-13—influenced Cricket Australia to make him the stand-in-captain for the ODI series against South Africa (2014) and Carlton-Mid ODI tri-series involving England and India in 2015 just before the commencement of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in the absence of Michael Clarke. Victories in both the series, handed him the incredible opportunity to lead the team in front of the over 90,000 fans in the opening game of the mega event against England in Melbourne Cricket Ground. Clarke had joined from the second game and that was the end of Bailey for that World Cup.
The 2014 season of Indian Premier League (IPL) when the franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) chose the Tasmania-born cricketer to captain their side in a hope to play an IPL final after failing to do since the establishment of the league in 2008. And Bailey made sure he justified the belief the owners had shown in him, KXIP became the most successful team for that year with 11 wins from 14 matches, however failing to end the league in the way they had wanted—Kolkata Knight Riders had defeated them in the final at Bangalore. READ– George Bailey has not retired from T20I: Sources
Bailey currently is with the Australian side playing England the ODI series after the visitors lost 2-3 in the Ashes 2015. With a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series, Steven Smith and Co is definitely trying to end their long tour of England on a winning note. Meanwhile, Bailey who scored a vital half-century in the previous match will want to carry the same momentum and help Australia win it.
