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Cape Town - According to his state coach, Dan Marsh, Australia should give George Bailey some consideration when selecting the squad to visit India next year.
Bailey has proven himself to be an excellent player of spin during the ODI series against Sri Lanka, finishing on an unbeaten 90 in the fourth clash in Dambulla.
Marsh believes that if Australia are looking for players who can excel in India they should look no further than Bailey.
The son of national selector Rod, Marsh said: "If they're looking for someone who can play spin well in the subcontinent, I'm sure he's got his name up there,
"He will just have to back this up and ... continue his good form in Shield cricket, as he did last year, to get his name up there.
"I think the lessons he would have learnt from his first five Tests, he's a smart enough bloke that he would carry those on into the sixth, seventh and eighth Test he plays.
"That's what driving George. He wants to play Test cricket again. It's the ultimate test and he wants to get back there."
It has been Bailey's willingness to sweep that has set him apart from Australia's other batsmen, especially the Test failures.
Marsh added: "If you look at the way the Sri Lankans played our spinners, they certainly swept a lot and very effectively.
"He would have gone in with a game plan over there after watching the Test series that he was going to have to do some sweeping.
"I know he ramped that up closer to the time. The best thing about it is he's gone there with a plan, he's stuck to it and it’s working."
At 33 Bailey is nearing the end of his career but will have been boosted by the selection of Adam Voges and Chris Rogers recently despite their advanced years.
Marsh concluded: "A lot of people were stoked to see Vogesy picked after the enormous amount of runs (he scored) and to see him do well at his age,
"And Bucky Rogers (also) just proved that age isn't a barrier.
"It comes up a lot ... in professional sport, the push to try and get younger players in. But the way we train and the way we prepare, I think a guy in his mid-30s is probably about the same as a guy who was 30 (years old) 10 or 15 years ago.
"So hopefully there's plenty of good cricket left."
