Bailey’s still going into bat for his peers
TIM Paine’s batting had been in a dark place for some time.
People could see what was going on in the middle but he didn’t tell anyone what was going on in his head. After years of surgeries and rehab his mangled finger had healed as much as it would, but pins and plates weren’t going to fix this mental problem that saw runs and confidence dry up.
As a last resort the Australian captain, who was by this time more out than in the Tasmanian Sheffield Shield side, sought professional help and the support of his state captain, George Bailey.
“He made a point of coming to me and saying, ‘Before I go out to bat, if I’m not talking or I’m sitting quietly just remind me. If I’m not being bubbly, if I’m not being chatty, if I’m not being one of the boys then whatever
is in my head is not something I want there. I’m not in a good place’,” Bailey said.
“By him sharing that was a good acknowledgment that he was on the path facing the struggles and being able to come out the other side.”
Paine has spoken openly of the painful years when a finger broken in a charity match banished him to the best part of seven seasons outside the Australian side. The summer he confided in Bailey was the summer he would be called back to the Australian Test team.
George Bailey was one of the most popular members of the Australian sides he played in and in Tasmania he appeared to be the one players turned to.
In Ed Cowan’s book, In the Firing
Line, he recounts sending an email to Bailey about being left out of the state T20 team and reprints the detailed message he received a few days later.
“George’s response was everything that encapsulates him as a man and captain — it was fair-minded, thoughtful, and compassionate but managed to be firm and did not offer false hope. Above all, it was honest; as a player, I know I appreciate that more than anything else,” Cowan wrote.
A veteran of five (Ashes) Tests, 90 ODIs and 30 T20 matches for his country, Bailey, 37, also managed to squeeze in 161 first-class games in summers at home and abroad. He captained the T20 side and the ODI team. He captained the 2015 World Cup-winning team in its first match of the tournament before giving up the job and his spot in the team to its permanent captain, Michael Clarke, when he returned from injury.
His 15-year career at the top level came to an end last summer and the cricketer who was raised on a farm on the Macquarie River in Longford put up his hand to help guide the shape of Australian teams.
Bailey, 37, sees selection as a good way to stay in touch with the many different moving parts in Australian cricket and as something of a first step in his post-playing career.
And it was his experience as captain in recent seasons at Tasmania which he believes gives him a valuable perspective.
GEORGE’S RESPONSE WAS EVERYTHING THAT ENCAPSULATES HIM AS A MAN AND CAPTAIN. IT WAS FAIR-MINDED, THOUGHTFUL, AND COMPASSIONATE BUT ... DID NOT OFFER FALSE HOPE.
— ED COWAN