Why Bailey isn’t concerned about Australia’s ageing pace stocks

Australia selector George Bailey isn’t concerned about the ageing state of the nation’s pace attack.

The Aussies named their squad for next month’s two-Test series against Bangladesh in the top end on Tuesday, with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland the frontline pace options.

While all four of that quartet have brilliant records over an extended period, some are concerned by a lack of younger options pushing them for spots, particularly given they’re aged 33, 35, 36 and 37 respectively.

Even though it may appear to the naked eye that the Aussies could be in deep trouble with the ball in just a few years, Bailey doesn’t see things that way as he looks ahead at an ‘exciting’ next crop.

“There's a handful of fast bowlers who have had opportunities,” Bailey told 1170 SEN Breakfast.

“Those guys (Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Boland) have played an incredible amount of cricket, both together and for a long time.

“There’s a handful of bowlers who have played a little bit of cricket in amongst that when they haven’t been available.

“We’re pretty excited about a pretty broad group of fast bowlers beyond that; some are particularly young, and most of them either are coming back from injury or have had some pretty significant injuries in the last couple of years.

“There’s a little bit of that with fast bowling and the challenges it places on the body.

“This group as well have had that, particularly when they were younger with missing a lot of cricket.

“You’ve just got to get their bodies to a certain point, then hopefully some of those growing pains - if you want to call them that - get put behind them, and they start to put some serious cricket together.

“There’s some really exciting younger quicks out there that we’re confident will come through at the right time.”

One man who’s been supporting those quicks for some time is all-rounder Cameron Green.

While many have called for Green’s axing from the Test side, Bailey himself is backing the 27-year-old, who he believes has still been important without necessarily making big scores. 

“He has complemented and performed in that Test team on numerous occasions,” Bailey said.

“His best performances have come in Tests overseas, so they’re probably out of the limelight a little bit and don’t get the recognition or kudos they deserve.

“The other thing that has happened is there’s been series and roles he’s played where it’s been quite challenging with the bat… I’ve got no doubt last summer he would have liked some more runs, but he wouldn’t have been alone there.

“But I’m very confident Cam has and will continue to perform well.”

The first Test between Australia and Bangladesh begins on August 13 in Darwin. Listen to every ball of the series LIVE on SEN and the SEN app.