Bailey absence could signal the end

There is a chance that former Test and ODI batsman George Bailey may have played his final game for Tasmania.

The ever-smiling veteran has failed to overcome the ill effects of a shoulder dislocation in the KFC BBL in time and has been left out of Tasmania's squad for their final-round JLT Sheffield Shield match against NSW this week.

The fifth-placed Tigers aren’t mathematically out of the race for the Shield final, but will need to beat the Blues in convincing fashion to earn sufficient bonus points, and also rely on other results to go their way, to be any hope of finishing in the top two.

There has been no official word on the playing future of Bailey, who turns 37 in September, and he is understood to be under contract for a return to the Hobart Hurricanes for BBL|09.

After he dislocated his right shoulder while fielding in the Hurricanes' BBL semi-final clash with the Melbourne Stars on February 14, Tasmania had been optimistic that Bailey would be able to play some part in the remainder of the Shield season.

"The scans undertaken on George's shoulder have come back as well as they could have done," Hurricanes and Tasmania coach Adam Griffith said in the week after the injury.

"We will monitor the progress of his recovery … though we are hopeful that George will make a return to playing for the Tigers this season."

Bailey made his Tasmania debut in a 50-over match in early 2002 and earned his first-class cap with the Tigers in late 2004. He has won three Shield titles with Tasmania – in 2006-07, 2010-11, and 2012-13 – and has played 124 Shield matches, scoring 8,018 runs at 38.54, with 20 centuries and a top score of 200 not out.

Ahead of his 18th season of professional cricket, Bailey told cricket.com.au that Tasmania's crop of energetic young players was keeping retirement thoughts at bay.

"I've tried not to think about it (retirement) too much. I'll certainly wait and see how the season goes," Bailey said last August.

"I think through competition is where I'll get my greatest indication of where I'm at.

"It's not something that concerns me.

"If it goes a bit longer, if my desire to keep playing continues that's great. If it doesn't then I'm OK with that too."

The former Australia limited-overs captain had an outstanding BBL season, smashing 363 runs at 45 with a strike-rate of 149 while often batting late in the innings.

The Sheffield Shield has not been as happy a hunting ground for Bailey, who struck 270 runs at 22.50 in six games before the BBL break.

Having led Tasmania's resurgence to last season's Shield final, which they lost to Queensland in a weather-affected clash in Brisbane, Bailey handed the captaincy reins to Matthew Wade in November to concentrate on his bating.

Bailey's absence prompted Wade to move up the order to No.4 this year, where he has continued to flourish and pile on runs following calls from National Selector Trevor Hohns for him to bat higher up the order.

And while Australia appear to have priorities elsewhere for the World Cup, Wade could yet be drafted into the Australia A squad that will tour England concurrently with the World Cup and Ashes campaigns if his form continues.

Tasmania have made two changes to the squad that was beaten last week by Western Australia in Hobart in a major blow to their hopes of a second successive Shield final.

Hamish Kingston and Simon Milenko have come into the team while Alex Pyecroft is to miss out after he reported knee soreness.

Tasmania: Matthew Wade (c), Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran, Hamish Kingston, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Simon Milenko, Tim Paine, Jordan Silk, Charlie Wakim, Sean Willis.

NSW: Kurtis Patterson (c), Sean Abbott, Nick Bertus, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Liam Hatcher, Moises Henriques, Baxter Holt, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Jason Sangha, Greg West.