Bailey happy with consistent show

George Bailey is a sharp deviation from the stone-faced Australian captains of the past. A smile is always on his face, and Bailey attributes that to him being a Tasmanian.

“I guess I am quite happy most of the time. Tassie…absolutely. All Tasmanians are very happy,” Bailey said on Tuesday with a wide grin. That could be true, but there’s another factor that contributes to his general state of happiness.

Coming in as perceived no-hopers, Australia have managed to eke out a 2-1 lead in the one-day series against India. He has played a major part in it, leading the Australian batting from the front, scoring more than 300 runs from four games.

“I am very happy to be 2-1 up. That’s good, and there’s been some really good cricket played. I am enjoying this tour, it has been a bit of fun, doing something you actually love,” he said.

Without owning up all credit, Bailey lauded his team-mates for that. “We have been pretty consistent with the way we have batted, the guys have been pretty clear in their plans and probably most important, we are very clear in our roles. Certainly in the last 8-9 games, we have had a really consistent side, guys know exactly what their role is within the team and they can go out and focus on that with a pretty clear conscience which is important,” said Bailey.

The hallmark of Australia’s campaign in the on-going one-day series has been the way they handled the Indian spinners – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Bailey explained the impact it made on the results of the matches.

“Certainly in the first few games, we were in a position to dominate because we had great opening partnerships. We had a century opening stand, then 70 or 80 in the other games.

“That just allowed us to have resources deeper into the innings, allowing us to put a bit more pressure on their bowlers, spinners and the quicks alike. I think that is a simple key or a simple cue for the batting side -- the longer you can keep some of the batters in your shed, the more pressure you can put on the bowlers,” he added.