Batting has been Australia’s strong point over the years in ODI’s, and with the current side as well, things are no different. From the ODI front, 2016 began on a promising note for the Kangaroos as they defeated India 4-1 at home in a series where their batsmen played some exceptional knocks.
The Australian batting order currently is jam packed by individuals who can single-handedly win games for them. Right at the top, the duo of Aaron Finch and David Warner possesses serious threat for the bowlers. With Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, and Mitchell Marsh well settled, there is just one spot up for grabs. In the first ODI of the tri-series against West Indies, it was Usman Khawaja who batted at 3. This meant that despite consistently performing, there was no room for George Bailey.
Bailey, though, in a recent interview stated that he wasn’t too dejected by the lack of opportunities. “I guess debuting at 29 I probably knew that I was only going to ever get one real crack in this team and it was important not to let anyone else have an opportunity in front of me,” said Bailey. “There’re some great players and as any player would say, all you can do is play well in the game and contribute to victories and hopefully that can keep you in the team.”
Bailey said that his aim was to secure his place for the Champions Trophy next year in England. “We had a really disappointing Champions Trophy in England last time,” he said of their winless 2013 campaign that proved to be Mickey Arthur’s last as Australia’s coach. “That seems like a long time ago now and the one-day team was in a really different place to what it is now. “But I feel we’ve really driven the way one-day cricket has been played around the world over the past couple of years and that’d be a great tournament to get to.”
“But where my position is on the team, I probably can’t afford to look that far ahead. “I just have to perform in every single series and if you get to have a crack in a game then make sure you do your job really well,” he added.