Experienced Bailey lands national selector role

Tasmania veteran George Bailey will call time on his playing career early next year after being unveiled as Australia’s new national selector.

Bailey will join the National Selection Panel in a full-time capacity from February, meaning he will not see out the Marsh Sheffield Shield season and take on his position at the conclusion of the KFC Big Bash League season after fulfilling his commitments with the Hobart Hurricanes.

The 37-year-old will succeed Greg Chappell on the three-man panel, which also comprises chairman Trevor Hohns and coach Justin Langer.

Bailey will initially serve as a National Teams advisor and work closely with the likes of EGM of National Teams Ben Oliver, Langer and Hohns before joining the NSP in a full-time capacity after his retirement.

Bailey is a veteran of 90 one-day internationals, 30 T20Is and five Tests and has captained his country 57 times.

In fact, Bailey was just the second Australian after Dave Gregory in the very first Test match in 1877 to make his international debut as captain when he was selected for his maiden T20 international as skipper in 2012.

“I am passionate about the long-term success of the Australian cricket team and advancing the cause of Australian cricket in general,” Bailey said. 

“I have been fortunate enough to contribute as a player for quite a few years, and to now have the opportunity to continue in the role of selector is a tremendous honour.

“I’m confident I can add value to the selection process and that my experience will be complementary to that of Trevor and Justin. I am really excited to be joining them in the coming months.”

Bailey has been a stalwart of Tasmanian cricket, while also representing the Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars in the BBL.

He is on the cusp of reaching the 10,000-run milestone in first-class cricket – he has 9988 runs at 38.56 from 159 matches – and Oliver said the ex-Tasmania skipper was an “outstanding leader and one of the most respected, thoughtful and generous figures in international cricket”.

“George’s international and domestic playing career speaks for itself. His extensive experience across all formats, and deep knowledge of T20 cricket, will be invaluable as we head into a home T20 World Cup and beyond,” Oliver said.

“We’re also excited about the broader impact that George will have on Australian cricket as we work to connect more closely with players, coaches and high performance staff across the country.”

Australia limited-overs captain Aaron Finch endorsed Bailey as the right man for the job. 

Bailey captained Australia in the shortest format for three years and Finch said his knowledge would be invaluable as the country builds towards next year’s ICC T20 World Cup.

“All the players I’ve spoken to are rapt with the decision to have someone who’s obviously still playing, but he’s a professional and been around the game a long time,” Finch said.

“He might get sledged a bit less though.

“We’ve had a couple of chats already and what’s important is everyone gets on the same page. 

“Having three selectors now, I think it’s a good mix…it creates a sense where you can probably challenge opinions a lot more and get a really streamlined process into selection.”

Star Australia batsman Steve Smith backed Bailey as the ideal person for the role on Tuesday.

"I think it’s good to have someone in a selector’s role who’s seen the group of players playing at the moment,” Smith said.

"And he knows T20 cricket really well, he’s played a lot of T20 cricket and he’s up with the times just because he’s been playing in recent times.”