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Play Head instead of Bailey in ODIs

George Bailey should be given another shot. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
Expert
13th June, 2016
39

George Bailey’s Test and Twenty20 days already are over. Having snuck back into Australia’s ODI line-up due to Glenn Maxwell’s form slump and David Warner’s injury, he looks to have one last chance to revive his international career.

Signs were not good for 33-year-old Bailey when he was dropped from the starting XI for the first match of the current series in the Caribbean.

The Australian selectors favoured Usman Khawaja at first drop, which pushed captain Steve Smith down to four, the batting position Bailey had occupied in the side’s previous 14 matches.

That 14-match streak had started directly after last year’s World Cup, during which Bailey had been dumped in favour of returning skipper Michael Clarke. This ruthless decision prompted anger among many Australian fans, who believed Bailey had been shafted.

The reality was that the Tasmanian deserved to be dropped. His form with the blade had been disastrous, averaging just 21 across his previous 22 ODIs. His shifting aside for Clarke for only the duration of the World Cup, after which Clarke retired, continued the unconventional nature of Bailey’s international career.

He came from nowhere to be announced the captain of the Australian T20 side four years ago, having never even played for his country in any format. Bailey’s Twenty20 tenure was patchy, with Australia winning 14 of their 28 matches under his leadership, while he averaged a below-par 26 with the bat.

During this period he managed to vault himself into the Test team off the back of sparkling ODI efforts, despite his ordinary returns in first-class cricket. His Test career spanned only the length of a 5-0 Ashes pounding of England, during which he made just 183 runs at 26.

These failures did not hurt his ODI career, but they did coincide with the start of a prolonged form slump. Prior to that Ashes series, Bailey had made a phenomenal start to his ODI career. In his first 34 ODIs he piled up 1535 runs at 57, passing fifty in 13 of his 32 innings.

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The second half of his ODI career has told a wildly contrasting tale – 974 runs at 28 from his past 38 matches. Soon to turn 34 years old, and amid a two-and-a-half year form trough, it seems extremely unlikely that he will be around for the next World Cup in three years’ time.

What value, then, is there in continuing to play Bailey? As the holders of the World Cup Australia should be building towards defending that trophy. Surely it makes more sense to move on from Bailey and offer opportunities, instead, to the likes of Travis Head.

The 22-year-old is in the current squad but is sitting on the sidelines in the Caribbean. A prodigiously-gifted strokemaker, Head shapes as a long-term player for Australia in all three formats.

He is a leading contender to replace Adam Voges in the middle order of the Test team when the soon-to-be 37-year-old finishes up – likely to be within the next two years.

Offering Head exposure to the highest level in the less pressurised environment of 50-over cricket would be tremendous preparation for a potential tilt at Tests. Aside from him, the likes of 23-year-old Cameron Bancroft and 24-year-old Nic Maddinson both are coming off brilliant domestic 50-over campaigns and, like Head, have the talent to push for Test honours down the line.

Sticking with Bailey makes no sense. He has been a great presence in the Australian side, offering fine leadership whether as captain or not. But his time is up. Give the young fellows a crack.

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