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While his sparkling form in the one-day form of the game certainly brings him to the fore of selection discussions, calls for George Bailey to be a certain starter for the first Ashes Test are extremely premature.
Bailey will have many keen eyes pointed in his direction upon his return to Australia, but the job is only partially done.
His average of 18 in last season’s Shield competition is abysmal. Bellerive Oval was a very difficult pitch to bat on last year, but to say that absolves Bailey of such a poor record is beyond generous.
Not every game in the Shield season is a Tasmanian home game.
In addition to that Ricky Ponting, Mark Cosgrove and Alex Doolan, teammates of Bailey, were the top three run-scorers for the competition, with averages of 75.91, 39.2 and 42.05 respectively. Jordan Silk averaged 57.83.
With players around him plundering runs, Bailey’s sub-20 average should be viewed as unimpressive and inadequate.
It is a very, very big assumption that Bailey would have scored runs if the pitch was a little bit more batsman-friendly.
The fact of the matter is those long-form runs are not on the board. We can’t just pencil them in and say they would have happened if the wicket was easier to bat on, especially when batsmen around him were scoring freely enough.
That isn’t to say Bailey is completely out of the picture. He’s got his foot in the door for now. He will have up to six innings in the Shield before the first Ashes Test to prove that his rich vein of form will extend into the longest form of cricket.
But if he cannot make a mark in the opening of the Shield, it would be an injustice to those making long-form runs to pick him.
It further damages the struggling competition if Bailey can cruise into the team on one-day runs while those scoring runs in the premier domestic competition and who have done so for many seasons, are overlooked once again.
The ball is in George’s court now, and the position is his to take. I would be pleased to see him progress into the Test side, but I believe it should be with a firm grip on the Sheffield Shield run-scorers table.
Twitter: The_Hoss12
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