Australia must leave Bailey out of the Ashes Squad- Ian Chappell

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http://mobile.news.com.au/sport/cricket/ian-chappell-believes-australian-selectors-must-look-past-runs-and-leave-george-bailey-out-of-ashes/story-fng7skuz-1226752058225?sv=891e9d6573259f80a7e0e22cda01eaea THE essence of selection is taking hard decisions and the Australian panel has a tough one looming, but leaving George Bailey out of the Gabba Test is the correct move. A selector has to look past the number of runs and see the batsmanship. Bailey, despite his mountain of runs in One Day cricket, is a batsman who’s restricted through the cover region, can be stifled by good spinners and is troubled by well-directed short-pitched bowling. His moderate first-class record and those limitations are not a good template for a Test batsman. Facing a quality England attack on bouncy Australian pitches is a far cry from what Bailey has been relishing in India. Batting on pitches that bowlers find as helpful as a Parisian asked for directions in English and against an Indian attack more benevolent than the Bill Gates Foundation, has little bearing on what’s looming at the Gabba and beyond. There’s also a chasm of difference between batting against a pedestrian attack hoping to contain and top-class bowling predators seeking wickets with field placings to reflect those widely varying approaches. The Australian selectors have to ignore the clamouring from a Board and a public that are desperate for victory over England and choose a combination that gives the side their best chance of winning.There are two ways to win a Test match; either you bury the opposition under a mountain of runs or you limit their scoring to attainable totals. With Australian batsmanship at a low ebb and the fast bowling rich in resources, the latter option is currently preferable. With all the injuries to the young fast bowlers, Australia desperately needs Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris available for all five Tests. It would also help the cause if Mitchell Johnson is fully rehabilitated and able to unleash short bursts of fiery bowling that produce clusters of wickets. With this in mind an allrounder is the superior choice over a number six batsman for this series. The choice of allrounder comes down to James Faulkner or Moises Henriques, depending on what you value most, bowling or batting. Faulkner will provide the superior bowling but his inclusion would require Brad Haddin to bat at six, while Henriques can handle the top order comfortably but isnt quite as effective with the ball. The presence of either one in the eleven will take some of the load off Harris, Siddle and Johnson, making them more likely to contest all five Tests. In addition, the ability of an allrounder to provide meaningful overs would also benefit Shane Watson, a crucial batsman in the line-up who needs to be relatively fresh when he strides out at number three.Watson, along with Michael Clarke and David Warner are the batsmen who will most concern England. All three can score quickly, which worries both bowlers and captains but they also need to consistently provide top order runs so that steady contributions from those around them will build a match winning total. England captain Alistair Cook has nominated 400 as a minimum first innings score in Australia but 350 will suffice with a decent attack. If the Gabba pitch contains a bit of extra life, an extra frontline bowler like Faulkner would help achieve this aim and ensure the England batsmen find it hard to break the shackles. The other advantage of playing an allrounder is it would give the selectors the choice of playing either Nathan Lyon or Fawad Ahmed, the nod going to the more penetrative bowler. It could be an astute move to take thirteen to Brisbane by including both allrounders and both spinners and then making the final choice based on the conditions. The five batsmen would be Warner, Chris Rogers, Watson, Clarke and Steve Smith. That means no place for the recently prolific Bailey, a tough decision but that’s why you have selectors.

[bulbul]

Batting on pitches that bowlers find as helpful as a Parisian asked for directions in English and against an Indian attack more benevolent than the Bill Gates Foundation

[adi B]

bailey is technically and temperamentally more sound than hacks like hughes,smith(even though he has done well),rogers,warner etc..he is a must in that aus side but the one positive is that pitches wont be that spin assisting as they were in england..australia are strong at home

[MCcricket]

I would have Bailey in my squad and team any day ahead of Hughes, Cowan.

[putrevus]

Batting on pitches that bowlers find as helpful as a Parisian asked for directions in English and against an Indian attack more benevolent than the Bill Gates Foundation I thought it was Aussie bowlers who were more benovalent this series.Fricking indian bowlers get more blame. this idiot chappell opened his big mouth again.He says Virat Kohli can fill Sachin shoes, but Bailey cant fricking fill Phil Hughes shoes. This guy Bailey looks to have strong character which is scarce commodity with Aussie batting these days, I would take him over any other batsmen including Watson except Clarke.

[Vilander]

this old chappell is past his date, he anyway said its a meaningless series so why should anyone bother. Never have this oldie here in India. Bailey is a gun.

[bulbul]

Chappell will be proven right as usual if Bailey plays.

[cowboysfan]

I think Chappell may well be right but you have to give him a go especially considering they have passengers like khwaja and hughes in the team.

[vvvslaxman]

Jinx master has opened his mouth. Advanced congradulations Bailey for a successful test career.

[G_B_]

Of all the aussie batsman he is the only one i saw in that series who was capable of constructing big innings. That separated him from somebody like Finch and Maxwell. I saw him pace his innings extremely well.

[Vilander]

he looks like Paul Collingwood but a meaner and better skilled version.

[Pagalpanti]

Chappell wants to stay in the news as always.. always seen him give strong opinions which more often than not are against majority view points.

[G_B_]

probably trying to keep hayden from getting a permanent commentary gig. He was excellent i thought in the recent ODI series. Good analysis and good banter. Commentary is the only gig Chapel now has. Once that is gone even the newspapers for which he writes columns will ask somebody in the limelight to write for them. So he probably has to make the news somehow.

[FischerTal]

Bailey FC record is not too flattering. If he scores well in the shield game at the gabba, he most likely will make the squad. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bradman99]

Chappell will be proven right as usual if Bailey plays.

He said the same about Matthew Hayden though.

[Zap_Brannigan]

Steve smith has been just as maligned but he did better than most in Ashes in England. I was surprised that he was dropped for the Indian tour. Aussie selectors have been pretty stupid lately.

[King Tendulkar]

Loads of aussie batsman are techinically poor . Bailey looks technically good. Also did well in England odis in England in different more difficult conditions plus in red red hot form , plus aussie batting is awful and they lost last ashes easily. They should take a punt and play him. Take a gamble

[Square Drive]

Some batsmen just don't have the motivation to score big in test even if they have decent set of skills. Probably Bailey is that type. Heck, even his list-a record is poor compared to int. record. It goes to show u how poor the international bowling standards and also the lack of sporty wickets outside Australia :P Wouldn't have been bothered if given a chance but now the great Chappelli has spoken :hatsoff:

[Zanjeer]

Chappell doesn't like anyone who plays with a smile..

[Lord]

hes surely better than Hughes,Cowan and Khawaja