Great Scot! Bailey's little-known brush with the Saltires

No Australian cricketer knows their way around Scottish culture quite like George Bailey. As Australia's selection chief notes: "It always feels like you're going to have a good night when you've got a kilt on." 

He has been known to don one in the daytime too. 

In fact, Bailey is uniquely qualified to understand the significance of Scotland's rare opportunity to host Australia when the team he helps pick takes on the 13th-ranked men's T20I side in three matches in Edinburgh this week.

It is a little-known chapter of Bailey's career that the Tasmanian represented Scotland 21 times before turning out for the country he was born in.  

And although his loyalties will be firmly in the Aussie camp for their first ever multi-game bilateral series against Scotland, Bailey makes no secret of the soft spot he holds for the "mighty Saltires".

In 2007, close to a decade after their decision to cut cricketing ties with England was vindicated by earning their maiden World Cup appearance at the famed 1999 event, Scotland were still fighting for a foothold in international cricket.

Given their Associate status with the International Cricket Council still gave them relatively few development opportunities for their leading players, Scotland supplemented their schedule by joining the ranks of England's county system in their domestic limited-overs competitions. 

That permitted them to recruit marquee overseas players like Bailey, who signed on to play in the 2007 Friends Provident Trophy while also turning out for The Grange Cricket Club in Scotland's premier club competition. 

The former proved something of baptism of fire given the calibre of the other overseas pros in the UK's domestic 50-over league that northern summer; Shane Warne (Hampshire), Muttiah Muralidaran (Lancashire), Kumar Sangakkara, Dale Steyn (both Warwickshire), Justin Langer (Somerset), Younis Khan (Yorkshire) and Lance Klusener (Northamptonshire) among them.

While the 24-year-old Bailey had by then established himself as an important plank in Tasmania's middle-order, he was still years away from beginning his international career and found himself as Scotland's main hope with the bat.

"That was probably more responsibility than what I had in the Tasmanian one-day team at that stage," Bailey told cricket.com.au, "so that onus of if you're chasing down a total, you've got to be the guy that that takes it a bit deeper and get into the innings. 

"You've got to learn to self-manage a little bit as well. There's no one there telling you that you need to go to the gym or go for a run, so you’ve got to self-coach a bit. You've got to jump in with other guys, have extra hits, and just have that onus on yourself. 

"I found that really appealing and beneficial."

A solitary win (against a Lancashire side featuring Murali, Brad Hodge and a young Jimmy Anderson) in their South conference underlined the strength of the competition, with Bailey leading the way for Scotland with 274 runs at 34.25 from their nine games.

The right-hander also averaged nearly 100 in the Scottish club competition, scoring three centuries to sow the seeds of a lifelong bond with The Grange; several of his former club teammates would travel down under to attend his wedding a decade later.

When Bailey returned to play for Scotland in 2010, this time in the Pro40 competition that pitted him against the likes of future Ashes stars like Ben Stokes (Durham) and Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), while more established, he was still two years away from earning his maiden Australian cap. 

Scotland won two out of their 12 games that season, but by that stage had developed into a more competitive outfit despite their still semi-pro status putting them at a considerable disadvantage.

"It was a bit different playing the counties – they were all fully professional, whereas we would travel down on a Sunday and play all around the UK, then you'd jump back in the car and head back because most of the guys were heading off to work Monday morning," said Bailey.

"Some of those games where you play down in Southampton or somewhere like that, it was into the car and then drive all through the night, and guys were heading into work the next morning. 

"It felt like Scotland got themselves into positions to win a few games. Sometimes it was almost just that knowledge of how you finish a game off, how you win it, and them feeling like they were good enough to win the game. 

"There were some close games that went the other way.

"But I just loved it – and loved their enthusiasm."

The constant from that Scotland side (one of the last that competed in the county competition before their involvement ceased in 2013) and the current one is Richie Berrington.

Now the national captain and Scotland's all-time leading run scorer in the T20 format they have thrived in over recent years, Berrington was still making his way in 2010 as an emerging allrounder.

"He was raw then – really talented, but you could see him going through the process of learning how to harness that and put that into a game," Bailey said of Berrington, whose 2010 tournament runs tally (361) finished behind only the Australian's team-high 422.

"He was a great competitor and always had a really strong belief. I think now his consistency in his performance and the trust he has in his game is really evident."

In addition to helping give the Aussies a strong run for their money in St Lucia during the two sides most recent meeting at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, Berrington was also one of the central figures in Scotland's shock win over England at The Grange in 2018. 

It underscores the fact they will not be easy beats having shown considerable improvement since Australia comfortably defeated them in ODIs in 2009 (winning by 189 runs) and 2013 (200 runs) on their only two previous international matches in Scotland.

"I think they've grown," said Bailey, who featured in that 2013 Scotland-Australia one-dayer that was also held at The Grange.

"Now when you look at that Scottish team, a lot of the guys now have played some franchise cricket and it just that looks to me now like a team that's got a lot more belief.

"That's one of the real strengths of some of the franchise tournaments, that it continues to give exposure to some of the Associate members and the players within their teams.

"They have probably played against a lot more international cricketers now and had some really good exposure. They've got some individuals that can match it with the best in the world."

Qantas Tour of the UK 2024

Australia T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood (England games only), Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Riley Meredith (Scotland games only), Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

September 4: First T20 v Scotland, The Grange, Edinburgh, 11pm AEST

September 6: Second T20 v Scotland, The Grange, Edinburgh, 11pm AEST

September 7: Third T20 v Scotland, The Grange, Edinburgh, 11pm AEST

September 11: First T20 v England, Rose Bowl, Southampton, 3.30am Sept 12 AEST

September 13: Second T20 v England, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, 3.30am Sept 14 AEST

September 15: Third T20 v England, Old Trafford Manchester, 11.30pm AEST

Australia ODI squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

September 19: First ODI v England, Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 10pm AEST

September 21: Second ODI v England, Headingley, Leeds, 10pm AEST

September 24: Third ODI v England, Riverside, Chester-le-Street, 10pm AEST

September 27: Fourth ODI v England, Lord's, London, 10pm AEST

September 29: Fifth ODI v England, County Ground, Bristol, 8pm AEST