Former Saltire George Bailey to captain Australia in T20 internationals

FORMER Scottish Saltires batsman George Bailey was celebrating last night after being named captain of Australia.

The Tasmania cricketer, who had two spells in Scotland, will lead the Aussies in two T20 internationals against India.

Bailey, 29, will become the second former Saltires overseas player to make his Australia debut in the last month, following Ed Cowan’s elevation to the Test stage.

He said: “Representing your country is the ultimate ambition – it’s what every Aussie cricketer aims for. To be captain makes it an even bigger honour.”

Bailey, who impressed selectors with his captaincy for Australia A against New Zealand in November, was inundated with tweeted messages of congratulations from his former Saltires colleagues.

And Cricket Scotland chief executive Roddy Smith said: “It’s fantastic news and I’ve just sent George congratulations on behalf of the organisation. He was one of the most popular figures we ever had from overseas and fully deserves the honour.

“George is natural captaincy material and I’d like to think he can also go on play for Australia in other formats of the game.

Bailey scored a total of 696 runs for the Scots and marked his final appearance by hitting 123no against Warwickshire – the highest score by a Saltires player in a 40-over game.

Australian national selection panel chairman John Inverarity added: “The NSP unanimously favoured George Bailey as Captain of the T20 team. George is a very good T20 player with a sound record. He is widely respected and regarded as an outstanding captain, having had sustained success in this role.”

The matches will be played on 1 and 3 February.