FINAL CHANCE TO SEE LEGEND

BAILEY’S LAST HURRAH

GEORGE Bailey has always marched to the beat of his own drum, and it was always this quality that so impressed Ricky Ponting.

Tonight, at Blundstone Arena playing for the Hurricanes, will be the last chance his loyal fans will get to see Bailey representing a Tasmanian team live when Hobart hosts the Sydney Thunder.

The 37-year-old will retire from professional cricket after this Big Bash League season to become a national selector, ending a nearly 20year career with Cricket Tasmania.

But the former Australian T20 and one-day skipper and Tigers and Hurricanes captain has always done it his own way, whether it be his unusual batting stance or his eloquent views on cricket devoid of cliches and the obvious.

Ponting, the state’s greatest cricketer, has always admired Bailey’s philosophy on the game. “You wouldn’t say conventional and George Bailey in the same sentence,” Ponting said

“That’s what I like about him because he’s continually tried to find ways to improve year on year.

“Even things like his unusual stance and after hurting his right shoulder learning to throw lefthanded, that sort of thing

“He’s been a great of Tasmanian cricket and I know everyone who has played with or against him would say the same thing.”

Bailey said the lead-up feels like any other game, but he is in no doubt he has made the right decision.

It is no coincidence his time in Tasmanian colours has been a golden age for the state. He rose to become Australian T20 skipper without playing a game for his nation — just the second man to do so — and was part of a World Cup-winning squad and an Ashes whitewash in his brief Test career. Of seven Tasmanian titles, Bailey was part of six of them. Only missing out in the state’s first ever trophy — the 1978-79 Gillette Cup.

He was instrumental in all three of the state’s Sheffield Shield wins and a further three more one-day triumphs.