MELBOURNE - George Bailey has conceded he will only win respect as Australia's new Twenty20 captain if he scores runs himself, regardless of how the side performs. Bailey's highest score in the shortest format is 60 and he has made only one T20 half-century in the past three seasons, but he said batting at No.5 opportunities were often limited and his record "stands up against anyone".
Bailey will make his T20 international debut on Wednesday against India in Sydney, and he will do it as captain after Australia's selectors axed Cameron White from the T20 leadership. A successful state captain with Tasmania, Bailey, 29, is seen by John Inverarity's panel as the man who has the best chance of steering Australia to success in the ICC World Twenty20 in September. However, he will need to ensure he doesn't succumb to the same fate as Michael Clarke, who was viewed as a tactically shrewd T20 captain but whose own batting skills were not suited to the game. "You are captain but first and foremost you're in there to perform," Bailey told ESPN cricinfo.