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The one thing that stood out in your mind from Australia’s Champions Trophy defeat to Sri Lanka was Michael Clarke’s reaction to the embarrassing George Bailey run out.
As Clarke’s frustration-riddled face buried deep in his hands, you felt certain you were bearing witness to a very poignant moment from an Ashes point of view.
The depth of Clarke’s reaction made you feel he had a hope and an expectation in Bailey that was irreconcilably let down.
With all the scutterbug within the team about unrest, fracture, division and the destruction of a once revered culture, Bailey was the man that needed to be added to the Test team. Especially when another imbecilic act by Dave Warner meant he has essentially excluded himself from the Ashes, leaving the team with only six specialist batsmen
The basis of Bailey’s consideration is primarily the strength of his character and the pervasive nature of his attitude. And, in a time where the team is bereft of viable reinforcements from an ability point of view, people with the right attitude need to be the focus.
In Bailey, you have a player who can lead with due aplomb by himself, as shown indelibly in his success with Tasmania in state cricket and briefly in his tenure as leader of the Australian ODI/T20 sides.
He is also that feel-good vibe in a team who keeps everyone on their toes and inspires them to achieve their optimum.
Diverting from his attitude, he is one of those batsmen that people see great potential in and feel certain could excel at a higher level, but his figures never force selectors to listen. He is the Aussie version of England’s Michael Vaughan, a player that never had exceptional figures but just engendered a sense of faith in you about him having it.
Plus as a batsman, Bailey understands the value of being busy and accumulating runs, which is a quality so devoid in any of the current crop of Aussie batsmen outside of Michael Clarke’s mastery.
He would in a sense be a de facto version of what Mike Hussey was to the team in all regards, and it would not surprise if he sparkled like Mr Cricket.
The mood killer is that act of running insanity that so stood out as an unforgivable mental lapse at a time when Australia is desperate to find the strong of mind to even out the rest of the squad who, to a large part, resemble a psych ward for mental frailties.
This mental frailty is a cancer in the team, which has led to those inexplicable lapses in stages of plays from individuals and the group as a whole and cost them so dearly.
Will – or ultimately should – one act condemn Bailey’s Ashes chance?
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