George Bailey

Born on September 7, 1982, George Bailey was selected to play for Tasmania during the 2005-06 season after a spate of injuries hampered the team.

Bailey made the most of his selection, plundering 778 runs which included three centuries. His consistency with the bat and his tactical nous helped him to become the captain of Tasmania in 2009-10 season. He went on to lead Tasmania to its second Sheffield Shield triumph in the 2010-11 season. His performances with the bat and his leadership qualities did not go unnoticed as he was selected in the Australian T20I squad for the series against India. He also replaced the incumbent Cameron White as the captain of the T20I side, a bold move by the selectors considering previous experiences. He responded well by taking his side to the 2012 World T20 semi-finals before losing to eventual champions, West Indies.

The ODI breakthrough was to come during the tour of West Indies. In the ODI format, Bailey has shown the same levels of consistency that saw him top the charts in the domestic circles and has become a pivot in the Australian middle-order. He was the automatic choice for the ODI captaincy when regular skipper Michael Clarke was rested for the first two games against Sri Lanka in January 2013. Bailey responded to the new responsibility with a cracking 89 to lead his team to a comfortable victory.

Bailey scored his first ODI ton, a sparkling 125 against West Indies at WACA. The knock was more significant considering that he rescued Australia from a precarious 98/6 to a more than respectable 266. Despite being a late bloomer, Bailey has quickly grown into being an integral part of the Australian set-up.

Bailey was a part of the Chennai unit until the sixth season of the IPL, before being released and was surprisingly not listed in the auctions that followed. Bailey was named the stand-in captain of the Australian ODI team that toured India. He had a prolific series where he scored 478 runs at an average of 95.60 with a personal best of 156.

It was his returns in the shorter forms as well as his leadership credentials and positive dressing room influence that convinced selectors he was worth investing in for Australia’s Test side for the 2013-14 Ashes Down Under. However, Bailey did not do much apart from smashing James Anderson for 28 runs in over in Adelaide and was dropped for the South Africa Test series. In limited-overs cricket through, the right-handed batsman is a certainty in the side and he also captained the side at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh.

In the 2014 IPL auctions, Bailey was bought by Punjab after his good show with the bat in white ball cricket. In the Big Bash League, he represented the Melbourne Stars before moving on to Hobart Hurricanes in 2012.

With Clarke being ruled out due to a hamstring injury on a number of occasions, Bailey continued to lead Australia in ODIs. He, however, decided to retire from playing T20Is for Australia. It was also announced that should Clarke be not fit in time, Bailey will captain Australia at the 2015 World Cup.

Steve Smith's rise as the Australian captain has kept Bailey on the sidelines and he continues to struggle to find a spot in the final XI in ODIs.

by Cricbuzz staff