GEORGE Bailey's hip-flexor issue has forced him out of Tasmania's must-win Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland, starting today at Bellerive Oval.
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After a long summer representing his country in all three formats, Bailey's rest has been enforced by Cricket Australia, which is looking for the Twenty20 skipper to recover in preparation for next month's World Cup in Bangladesh.
With the first T20 in the lead-in series in South Africa on March 9, Bailey's red ball action for the summer looks over.
Tigers coach Dan Marsh yesterday said he would have ``loved'' to have the services of his captain, who made 83 last week against Western Australia, against the Bulls, but he understands the situation.
``I totally understand where he's at at the moment, as he's really hobbling around, and he needs to get that rest before the T20 World Cup,'' Marsh said.
Tasmania will also be without all-rounder Luke Butterworth due to a torn quad, with debutant Beau Webster and Steve Cazzulino added to the squad that lost outright to the Warriors.
Marsh's Tigers sit in fifth place with 10 points, 14 away from second place, meaning they need maximum points from their final three games to have any hopes of reaching the final.
But Marsh isn't looking that far ahead.
``I just want us to start playing some good consistent cricket and then the results will look after themselves,'' he said.
Queensland, fourth on the table with 16 points, will be without former Test batsman Usman Khawaja, who scored 182 in the run-chase of 471 against South Australia last week, due to hamstring injury.
6pt UNIV INTO HELIOS; Starts in UNIV, breakback goes to helios, loops on breakbacks.TASMANIA: Tim Paine (c), Steve Cazzulino, Mark Cosgrove, Ed Cowan, Xavier Doherty, Ben Dunk, Andrew Fekete, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Sam Rainbird, Beau Webster, Jon Wells.
QUEENSLAND James Hopes (c), Cameron Boyce, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Luke Feldman, Peter Forrest, Cameron Gannon, Chris Hartley, Alister McDermott, Dominic Michael, Luke Pomersbach, Nick Stevens.