George Bailey in Australian Test squad – We knew it was coming

Zee Media Bureau/Suyash Srivastava

New Delhi: Australia hardly felt the absence of their regular skipper Michael Clarke in the recently concluded ODI series against India, as their stand-in skipper George Bailey had a tremendous tournament where the right-hander was the highest run-scorer for the team. Bailey was rewarded for his back-to-back formidable knocks as he was named in Australia`s 12-man squad for next week`s first Ashes Test against England, which was announced in Brisbane on Tuesday. In the ODI series against India, Bailey accumulated 478 runs at an incredible average - 95.60. It was a result of his sublime form that Australia crossed the 300-run mark in most of the matches. In the seven-match series, Bailey scored over 90 runs on two occasions and he also slammed a massive ton – 156 off just 114 balls in sixth ODI. Aussie pacer Mitchell Johnson also returned to the attack alongside Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle in the absence of the injured Mitchell Starc. Bailey is Australia’s most in-form batsman at the moment and it would be interesting to see whether he can continue his good run in the Test matches as well. Australia desperately need someone in the middle-order to ease some pressure off Clarke, who missed the ODI series against India due to a back injury.