Tasmanian outlines way forward for next in line
Test return the focus for Bailey
Australia’s departing T20 skipper George Bailey leaves the role with a blueprint of sorts for his successor, to be announced today.
Bailey, who took over the T20 captaincy from Cameron White in early 2012, has led Australia 27 times for 13 wins and was skipper at the 2012 ICC World T20 (in Sri Lanka) and Australia's disappointing campaign in Bangladesh this year where they failed to progress beyond the group stage.
Quick Single: Bailey steps down as T20 captain
He exits the position with the disappointing belief that Australia has underachieved in the game’s shortest format.
“I have no doubt that we should be a better T20 team than where we’re ranked,” he said.
“The international T20 (rankings) basically all come down to the World Cup and we haven’t won one, and we probably should have by this stage.
“The challenge is to make that by the time next one comes around we’ve got a really strong squad.
“If you look around the domestic competitions we continually produce ‘players of the tournament’ and guys who are really coveted in terms of the IPL.”
Bailey, 31, feels that while Australia have produced outstanding individuals in the format, the national squad is yet to find that perfect blend – and he sees one position in particular as having let them down.
“It’s just getting the balance right to make sure the mix is right when it comes around to the World Cup,” he added. “(And when) we do (select) T20 teams they are fresh and hungry, and are really desperate to do well.
“Going forward, I think one of our big challenges is we need to find a world class T20 spinner and that’s something that will hopefully happen in the next 12 months.”
Bailey provided a candid insight into the thinking behind his decision to stand down from the prestigious role.
“I discovered my real passion is one-day and four-day cricket and I guess Twenty20 cricket came along at a time after I had developed my cricket skills,” he said.
“It’s something I still love and will continue to play but I thought for the next three or four years I want to give myself a chance to be the best four-day cricketer I can be and this is a chance to play a bit more red-ball cricket.
“That was the selfish side of things.
“The unselfish side was, although the next T20 World Cup is in 2016 it’s about eight games away for the new captain, so it gives him a chance to settle in, find his feet, put his mark on the team and hopefully get the one trophy that’s missing from our cupboard.”
The Tasmanian said the decision was made “in consultation with the selectors”, adding that the desire to return to Test cricket – which he enjoyed a brief taste of last summer – was a key factor in his reasoning.
“I did raise it with them – I think they would have been wanting to do it at some stage – but I raised with them what I wanted to achieve and I raised it purely from my perspective,” Bailey said.
“They were really receptive to that.
“I loved the five Tests (he played last summer) and I think as time goes by it will dawn on me how special that was.
“If I don’t get back to playing Test cricket I’ll still be very happy, but I just want to give myself the best chance to maybe have that opportunity again.
“I think I was picked on the back of my one-day form and I don’t think I would have that opportunity again.
“I think if I was going to play Test cricket again it will come from scoring lots and lots of Sheffield Shield runs, so I want to have that opportunity.”
Bailey also pointed out that, despite his desire to focus on Bupa Sheffield Shield cricket as a means of making his way back into the Test set-up, it was T20 that gave him his initial shot at the five-day game, however indirectly.
“In some ways, T20 gave me my opportunity,” he added. “Debuting and captaining in the same game gave the selectors a chance to see me play and captain, and that helped give me the chance to play one-day cricket.
“And I think my one-day cricket was the reason I got a chance to play Test cricket, so it’s funny how it works.”