Australia vs India 2018: George Bailey Wants Players to Earn Spots by Domestic Performance
Updated - 09 Jan 2019, 07:06 PM
The Australians recently came across one of the forgettable games in Test format. They were completely outclassed by the Pakistan players in the UAE thus putting the pressure on the Australian selectors. Meanwhile, with Indian series is in line, the former Australia captain George Bailey wants to give a chance to the domestic performers.
Apart from Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja, none of the batsmen showed resistance in playing Pakistan bowlers. The likes of Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, have shown some spirit but the presence of Marsh brothers has been a real flop.
Domestic Performers would be the best bet – George Bailey
Personally, George Bailey feels one should not look much into the UAE tour. He added the conditions would be tough for the players to score runs which is different to Australian conditions.
Meanwhile, he also added it would be the best chance for the players to perform in the domestic circuit to push for the places. He feels the selectors might put the UAE tour aside and pick the perfect squad for the first Test against India.
“Personally, I wouldn’t read too much into the UAE tour. It’s a really challenging place to play and the conditions will be so different here. I would imagine if there were seven or eight bats the Australian selectors thought were their best for the UAE. I can’t imagine they change too much for an Australia series,” George Bailey quoted.
”No doubt scoring runs in any game is great because it shows you can do it, but I think selectors would be putting that together with past form in red ball cricket, particularly if you’re trying to pick a team for that first Test. Given the collapses and batting trouble that team has had, you would think scores in first-class cricket would be the best currency,” he added.
However, it would be interesting to see whether the Australian selectors will look after the suggestion made by George Bailey. Another Australian, Shane Warne has also been pretty vocal on selection criteria as well.
