GEORGE Bailey, the man that took the catch that allowed Australia to reclaim the Ashes, says he feels part of the Test team, but will never likely feel 100 per cent comfortable in it.
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Bailey, who is back home to captain the Hobart Hurricanes in their opening Big Bash League clash against the Adelaide Strikers tomorrow, said the highly pressurised environment of Test cricket was one that he doubted he would ever truly feel at ease in.
``I feel part of it, but I don't feel comfortable,'' Bailey said yesterday.
``But I've said that before about playing one-day and Twenty20 cricket for Australia that I've never really felt comfortable.
``It's a highly pressurised environment and it's somewhere where not a lot of players have ever felt comfortable.
``But I've absolutely loved it.''
The 31-year-old, who has made 136 runs at an average of 34, with top score of 53, in the Ashes series so far, admitted he needed to find a way to score more runs to cement his place in the team, despite his world record 28 off one Jimmy Anderson over.
The former South Launceston batsman from Longford said being part of a winning Ashes teams was ``phenomenal''.
``It has just been really special and the whole summer has been really special about how the whole public has got behind the team and then how the team has played,'' Bailey said.
``To see some of the emotion, particularly on the guys' faces like Brad Haddin and Shane Watson who have played for so long in the Australian side and hadn't won an Ashes was pretty special.
``It brings it home what that series means, it's such an iconic series.
``I think as `Pup' (skipper Michael Clarke) said in the last few days, how hard everyone has worked, and whether the results have gone our way or not, you cannot fault how hard the team has worked to try to get back to being the cricket team that we want to be and the cricket team that the Australian public wants us to be.
``To see some of that come to fruition is really special.''
He was confident Australia would not relax from its ruthless approach in the final two Ashes encounters, beginning on Boxing Day at the MCG.
``Personally I'm still trying to cement myself (in the team), so there's as much for me to gain in the last two Tests as anyone,'' Bailey said.
``I think England will try to bounce back, but when you've suffered as many defeats to England as we have to them over last few years, I'm sure everyone will be making sure they don't get any Christmas presents.''
