A FRESH domestic tournament and a rare chance to play in his home town are providing welcome distractions before George Bailey will turn his thoughts to a cricket World Cup on home soil less than two months away.
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The former South Launceston batsman led his Hobart Hurricanes in a practice match at Aurora Stadium last night which was a final hitout before their Big Bash League campaign begins against the Melbourne Stars at the MCG tomorrow.
With national captain Michael Clarke admitting that his ongoing injury concerns may prevent him from ever playing again, it presents the possibility of his regular deputy leading Australia in the tournament, but Bailey said he is focused on the domestic Twenty20 rather than the international 50-over competition.
"I'm not even sure if I'm in the team let alone captaining it," said the 32-year-old.
"I think that was a line from [Clarke] in the emotion of the moment. All the reports I've heard are that his surgery has gone really well.
"I'm not sure what the time frame is for him to come back but knowing how much of a professional he is in terms of his recovery and preparation I'm sure he'd love to be back in no time."
Bailey was a member of the ICC ODI team of the year but said he had "no idea" what national selectors were thinking in terms of the World Cup, which begins with Australia hosting England at the MCG on February 14.
"Looking back over the last 12 months a lot of players have played in that Australian one-day team and a lot have done very well.
"My last couple of series have not been as nice as I'd have liked but I've really enjoyed captaining and leading that side and we've had some good success. For me it's probably more about getting back here and enjoying cricket."
Playing in Launceston for the first time since Sandy Bay travelled north for a couple of Kookaburra Cup fixtures against Launceston a couple of years ago, Bailey said he was excited about cricket gracing Tasmania's home of AFL.
"I've heard great things about playing here. A few guys from Hobart have been coming up to play the Aussie 15s competition and everyone's been saying the wicket's really good and the surface is wonderful so this is a really important hitout for us.
"When you start seeing grounds developed as much as they are and drop-in wickets around the country are getting better and better I guess this was the next logical step. It's great to see one wicket in and I've heard there's going to be another next year which is really exciting as well."