George Bailey (cricketer, born 1982)

George John Bailey (born 7 September 1982) is a former Australian cricketer, who played all formats for the national team and captain ed the team in limited-over formats.

Domestically, Bailey played for the Tasmanian cricket team in all three domestic state competitions (the Sheffield Shield, One-Day Cup and KFC Twenty20 Big Bash) as well as the Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars in the Twenty20 Big Bash's successor, the KFC Big Bash League.

He has also played in the Indian Premier League and T20 Blast, and in Scotland with Grange Cricket Club.

He attended the Launceston Church Grammar School, where he was school captain and graduated in 2000.

He then studied business at the University of Tasmania, and resided at Jane Franklin Hall.

Bailey was first selected to play for Tasmania in 2005/06, due to injuries to regular players, and he was given an extended stint in the first-class team, scoring 778 Pura Cup runs, including three centuries, and earning a second invitation to the academy.

Talk of the state leadership and possible national team representation began that summer, after he scored a highest score was 155 against South Australia, an innings that formed part of a state-record fourth-wicket partnership of 292 with Travis Birt.

Another highlight came shortly before the 2006/07 season, when he bludgeoned 136 from 65 balls for the academy against a Zimbabwe Board XI.

Bailey is a former national under-19 player.

The fast-bowling allrounder James Faulkner was on his debut, the batsman Travis Birt had earned a recall nearly two years after his last international appearance and Brad Hogg had returned after retiring in 2008.

Further prominent performances in the coming seasons saw Bailey play for Australia against the All Star team in the All Star Twenty20 match in 2009.

Bailey was appointed as the permanent captain of Tasmania for the 2009/10 season, replacing Daniel Marsh.

He captained Tasmania to its second Sheffield Shield title against New South Wales at Bellerive Oval in 2010/11.

In early 2010, Bailey was called up for the ODIs in New Zealand when Michael Clarke returned home for personal reasons – but did not win a cap.

In February 2011, Bailey led Tasmania to a five wicket Sheffield Shield win over Victoria where he scored an unbeaten 160.

In the 2011/12 Ryobi Cup final in Adelaide, Bailey showed he is made of stern stuff; he scored 101 and was out in the last over.

But although Tasmania tied with South Australia, they lost the title because South Australia finished top of the ladder that season.

Bailey was appointed as Twenty20 captain of the Australian national team in 2012, succeeding Cameron White prior to the two match series against India that ended 1–1.

He became the second ever Australian to captain an international game without having played an international game before, after Dave Gregory in the first ever Test match.

In 2012, he was signed by the Melbourne Stars for the first season of the Big Bash League.

Bailey scored 114 runs at an average of 19 for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.

He subsequently had to wait until 2012 to make his international debut.

When he did, he did so as captain of the Australian national Twenty20 team, succeeding Cameron White prior to the two match series against India, which ended 1–1.

He became the second ever Australian to captain an international game, without having played an international game before, after Dave Gregory in the first ever Test match.

When he walked out as leader for the T20 at Sydney's Stadium Australia and the match at the MCG, Bailey was in charge of a new-look side.

On 1 May 2013, Bailey was appointed the vice-captain of the Australian ODI team for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

He captained the Australian team in India in ODI in the absence of Michael Clarke.

In November 2013, Bailey was named in the Australian team for the 2013–14 Ashes series against England.

He played all five matches of the series, but was subsequently dropped from the Test team.

Needing 130 in the final session, he and James Faulkner pushed the Tigers past the total in the 91st over of play on the final day to lift Tasmania to second on the table behind New South Wales.

Bailey was a member of the Australian team that won the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Bailey graduated with a Graduate Certificate of Management in 2016, and is currently completing a Master of Business Administration degree at the university.

A destructive striker who can change a match within a few overs, Bailey arrived as a state one-day player at the age of 19 after playing his junior cricket with the South Launceston Cricket Club.

In 2016, Bailey was signed by the Rising Pune Supergiants, a new Indian Premier League team, as a replacement to Faf du Plessis who was ruled out of due to a finger injury.

This was Bailey's third IPL team after Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab where he was captain for last two years as the franchise decided to release him and there was no buyer for him 2016 auction.

In the 2017–18 season, Bailey won his first Ricky Ponting Medal for Tasmania's best player in the previous season.

He was appointed as the chief selector of Cricket Australia in August 2021.

Bailey is the great-great-grandson of George Herbert Bailey, who represented Tasmania in 15 first-class matches, and the great-grandson of Keith Bailey, who represented Tasmania in two first-class matches.

He was born and raised in Launceston, Tasmania.

In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers franchise team in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament.