George Bailey

[dermo]

reckon we're getting one of three options for the first saffa test

doolan at 3 and watson at 6
doolan at 6 and watson at 3
forkers at 7 haddin at 6 and no doolan

 

[uvelocity]

and i have to say i dont watch shield cricket, very rarely anyway, and ive only seen doolan in bigbash and ryobi, but he looked very good. however if you can use bailey's fc average against him, you can't ignore it in regards to doolan either.

as i said, a lack of options, and you've said it yourself before that we are very thin on the ground in terms of reliable batting talent.

 

[uvelocity]

and i'll say again, thank **** smith (and hadds, and rogers) have kicked on here or we'd be trying to fit half a batsman into 2 and a half spots. at least its only 1 spot up for grabs

 

[Tangles]

The irony is that we could have easily carried Hughes rather than Bailey with how we have batted. Makes me think the selectors will go with Forkers.

 

[Debris]

Probably in order I'd replace Bailey with Wade (has test centuries at least) Doolan (picked as cover at Sydney) Hughes, Voges and White (yes I know..I know - but he's made some runs) Reserve opener to come from Cowan and Usman.

That is probably the most depressing list I have read in a long time.

 

[James90]

Doolan > Hughes > Khawaja > Bailey.

And all were in form at the start of the series.

But I also agree with the comment that Bailey's continued selection is worse than his initial selection.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Doolan > Hughes > Khawaja > Bailey.

And all were in form at the start of the series.

But I also agree with the comment that Bailey's continued selection is worse than his initial selection.

Bailey's been hatmful for Aus in the field as well

 

[91Jmay]

I thought he was worth a go, but I don't know anything about Australian domestic cricket and was judging it on the likes of Hughes being the rest of the alternatives.

 

[adub]

The only surprise about Bailey is that he has turned himself into a pretty damn good short form player. His test efforts are pretty much right to script.

The selectors are one day going to have to work out that the only guys with records comparable to Hughes at the same age all went on to have huge careers and so they need to just stick with him because he will come good and probably in a big way. Probably won't take him to SA but they should. North was rightly dropped back in the day, but his 35 average with a ton every 4 tests don't look so bad in the current team and he can't have done any more in the shield this season. Would not be the worst pick to travel as reserve bat.

They'll probably go funky again though and pick something out of left field though.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Philander licking his lips at prospect of facing Bailey with his technique outside off stump.

Surely can't go, no idea who should but Bailey isn't a test player.

 

[BoyBrumby]

The only surprise about Bailey is that he has turned himself into a pretty damn good short form player. His test efforts are pretty much right to script.

The selectors are one day going to have to work out that the only guys with records comparable to Hughes at the same age all went on to have huge careers and so they need to just stick with him because he will come good and probably in a big way. Probably won't take him to SA but they should. North was rightly dropped back in the day, but his 35 average with a ton every 4 tests don't look so bad in the current team and he can't have done any more in the shield this season. Would not be the worst pick to travel as reserve bat.

They'll probably go funky again though and pick something out of left field though.

Quite. The knock on Bailey before debut was "Really good bloke; nicks off too much for tests, but" and, **** me pink, look what's happened.

How old is North now, btw? Have vague ideas he was already past 30 back in 10/11. If he's the best man for the gig he's got a case, but by selecting all these gnarled campaigners Oz is building a time bomb that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Look what happened when the McWarne generation all got old together.

 

[Jakester1288]

by selecting all these gnarled campaigners Oz is building a time bomb that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Look what happened when the McWarne generation all got old together.

Nothing really happened then, we transitioned out of that pretty well really and it took a while longer for it to go to ****.

 

[morgieb]

Quite. The knock on Bailey before debut was "Really good bloke; nicks off too much for tests, but" and, **** me pink, look what's happened.

How old is North now, btw? Have vague ideas he was already past 30 back in 10/11. If he's the best man for the gig he's got a case, but by selecting all these gnarled campaigners Oz is building a time bomb that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Look what happened when the McWarne generation all got old together.

North is 34.

 

[adub]

North is 34 so yes only a stop gap. He started the Shield like Bradman though and has a better fc record than pretty much any other candidate not named Phil Hughes to go with his rocks and diamonds test career.

The issue for us is I think we have some real quality potentially coming through, but it's not ready yet. Bowlers like Pattinson, Cumins, Starc, Hazlewood etc and batsmen like Silk, Lynn, Maddinson, Head and maybe Burns are all tasty prospects, but need a few more years. The generation between (the 26-32 year olds atm) are basically a bust. Just a bunch of 30 averages. If some old heads can fill a gap until the young ones are ready that will only be to the good. Doolan might be ok (he does look the goods when he gets going), but his record is almost identical to Bailey's so it would surprise me if he does much better especially against the likes of Steyn and Philander. Khawaja seems to have lost his mojo (or has just been worked out), and Smarsh and Ferguson are frauds. Nothing to get excited about in that lot. The future is Hughes and younger.

 

[Burgey]

I really wanted Bailey to do well because he just seems a great fella, but he's had five games on the bounce and doesn't look up to it at all tbh. Some may say it's too small a sample size to judge someone, but it's not that he's failing and getting out in different ways, he has a known technical flaw and it's been his downfall most every time. He's had a decent run at it in a winning side, which is more than can be said for some of the younger blokes who've played before him and been tossed away sooner because the side has been struggling.

I really like Bailey, as I said, and he's a lock for the shorter forms of the game. But I don't think he's a test player, sadly. Today was a great chance for him - had he made a solid 80-100 having come in at 4/90, fair enough. But he didn't and that should be that.

I'd like to see Doolan or whoever else replaces Bailey at three with Watson at six. Really don't think Watsons technique is tight enough for a top order player, but if I was Lehmann and the options are available, I'd bat Watson at six and tell him he has a licence to bat how he does in LO cricket.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

I really wanted Bailey to do well because he just seems a great fella, but he's had five games on the bounce and doesn't look up to it at all tbh. Some may say it's too small a sample size to judge someone, but it's not that he's failing and getting out in different ways, he has a known technical flaw and it's been his downfall most every time. He's had a decent run at it in a winning side, which is more than can be said for some of the younger blokes who've played before him and been tossed away sooner because the side has been struggling.

I really like Bailey, as I said, and he's a lock for the shorter forms of the game. But I don't think he's a test player, sadly. Today was a great chance for him - had he made a solid 80-100 having come in at 4/90, fair enough. But he didn't and that should be that.

I'd like to see Doolan or whoever else replaces Bailey at three with Watson at six. Really don't think Watsons technique is tight enough for a top order player, but if I was Lehmann and the options are available, I'd bat Watson at six and tell him he has a licence to bat how he does in LO cricket.

Yeah, a lot of trouble has been had at number 3 and Watson's never looked set there while under pressure. However for a new guy coming in it's probably going to be too much up against SA first up at 3. So that leaves possibly Clarke or Smith to bat there. I don't like that idea personally with a set order at this time. But Clarkey may need to step up to that spot?

 

[Burgey]

Yeah maybe they'll leave it and do a straight swap at six.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Which sucks because it leaves Watto out of place still

 

[adub]

I really wanted Bailey to do well because he just seems a great fella, but he's had five games on the bounce and doesn't look up to it at all tbh. Some may say it's too small a sample size to judge someone, but it's not that he's failing and getting out in different ways, he has a known technical flaw and it's been his downfall most every time. He's had a decent run at it in a winning side, which is more than can be said for some of the younger blokes who've played before him and been tossed away sooner because the side has been struggling.

I really like Bailey, as I said, and he's a lock for the shorter forms of the game. But I don't think he's a test player, sadly. Today was a great chance for him - had he made a solid 80-100 having come in at 4/90, fair enough. But he didn't and that should be that.

I'd like to see Doolan or whoever else replaces Bailey at three with Watson at six. Really don't think Watsons technique is tight enough for a top order player, but if I was Lehmann and the options are available, I'd bat Watson at six and tell him he has a licence to bat how he does in LO cricket.

Yeah I pretty much hope anyone playing in a baggy green goes good, even if I don't think they should have been selected. Always happy to have a player I don't think is up to it prove me wrong (hi Mitch). But when a guy with no fc record worthy of test selection wins the Inverarity lottery and doesn't cash in, then **** em. I said to n00fers at lunch today I wanted Bailey to either score big or fail big. No teasing 60s, ton up or **** off. I was confident he was good for single figures and he didn't disappoint. It's not personal, but the only basis on which Bailey could justify a test career would be if he surprised on the upside like he has in the one day stuff. If anything he's gone worse than we could have expected. Thankfully it hasn't hurt us, but it was a long shot bet that didn't come off. Time to move on.

 

[adub]

Yeah maybe they'll leave it and do a straight swap at six.

Hughes would be the only one I think you could legitimately bring in at 3. Any debutante like Doolan deserves the chance to bat with a bit less pressure on at 6.