National vice-captains George Bailey and Tim Deavin may be dominating respective selection criteria like run-scoring or beep tests but both appear to have fallen victim to that great uncontrollable that gets us all in the end.

Bailey, as ever, stayed diplomatic following his One-Day International axing, letting his Big Bash League bat do the talking before Australia promptly twice demonstrated how much it needed a steady hand at No.4.

In contrast, Deavin let his mouth do the talking, openly declaring his axing from the Kookaburras squad as “age discrimination”.

In 2016, Bailey scored more ODI runs than anybody from England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or the West Indies.

Admittedly, Australia played considerably more matches than any other nation and consequently filled three of the top four spots on the run-scoring list, with South Africa’s Quinton de Kock joining Bailey, Steve Smith and runaway leader David Warner.

However, Bailey’s 808 runs still had him above more widely-acknowledged adversaries like Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Faf du Plessis and even his own compatriots Aaron Finch, Mitch Marsh and fellow Tasmanian Matthew Wade who actually played two more matches.

Across his international career, Bailey has played 90 ODIs, scored 3044 runs at an average of 40.58 and strike-rate of 83.51 with three centuries, an impressive 22 half-centuries and a top score of 156.

But the Tasmanian captain and former South Launceston batsman found himself ejected from the ODI squad for the series against Pakistan primarily for the figure 34, namely the number of years since John and Carmen welcomed him into the world.

Trevor Hohns, who goes by the title interim national selector since Rod “Score more runs Jackson” Marsh realised how bad he was at it, openly admitted age played a part in the decision.

Hohns said Bailey had scored just one 50 in his last 10 ODIs “so we have decided to look at younger players in the middle order”.

As someone who goes through life with the same perpetually positive outlook as his namesake at the end of the 1946 James Stewart movie It’s A Wonderful Life, George Bailey hit back in the only way he knows.

The next day he hit an unbeaten 69 for Hobart Hurricanes and followed up with another 59 as best supporting batter while Ben McDermott starred in the biggest run chase in BBL history.

Age was similarly prominent in the minds of Australian hockey selectors when they picked the Kookaburras’ 2017 squad.

Of the 23 players, just nine had competed at the Rio Olympic Games with 32-year-old Deavin joining the high-profile likes of Chris Ciriello, Kieran Govers, Matt Gohdes, Simon Orchard and Glenn Turner axed from a youthful squad in which multiple Olympians Mark Knowles, Matthew Swann and Deavin’s Tasmanian teammate Eddie Ockenden were the notable survivors.

In talking about the “long-term view” and “development opportunities”, head coach Colin Batch echoed Hohns in unashamedly opting for youth over experience.

Understandably gutted, Deavin was also annoyed, having set numerous benchmarks for fitness during his six-year 138-match international career.

“It’s super disappointing,” he told The Examiner.

“I feel I am being judged on my age rather than my ability which sucks.

“Being told I’m too old is the most disappointing thing rather than being told you are not good enough, which you can cop on the chin.

“I’ve got one of the youngest bodies in the squad, I’m not slow, not unfit and never get injured.

“There’s a big push to focus on Tokyo 2020 and they have cut everyone over 29 except Knowlesy.

“They’ve just cut everyone rather than a steady process of keeping the best experience and youth together.”

Like Bailey, the Tamar Churinga defender did not dwell on the setback, swiftly being named player-coach at distinguished Perth club Hale as well as earning selection into the Australian team for the indoor hockey world cup, alongside fellow Kookaburra discards Turner and Govers.

Ironically, head coach Steve Willer praised the “exceptional level of experience” in a squad boasting “athleticism, attitude, team orientation and positional flexibility”, a message his Kookaburras counterparts maybe needed to hear.

Deavin summed up both scenarios when he said he could cope with being told he wasn’t good enough, just not with being told he wasn’t young enough. 

In any other walk of life, such decisions could indeed be viewed as age discrimination.