‘This is a pretty important tour for us’ - George Bailey stresses importance of South Africa, Zimbabwe tours

Australia chair of selectors George Bailey has highlighted the importance of the upcoming tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe, with the series set to play a crucial role in Australia’s preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Bailey acknowledged that Australia have limited opportunities to fine-tune their squad and identify the players best suited to the conditions they are likely to encounter at the World Cup.

The 2027 ODI World Cup will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia from October 4 to November 21. Despite the retirement of several experienced players, Bailey believes Australia have enough talent to fill the roles previously occupied by their senior campaigners and build a competitive squad for the tournament.

"I think this is a pretty important tour for us. Zimbabwe and South Africa, that's where the World Cup will be played late next year. So we are effectively 12 to 14 months away from that, and there's reasonably limited opportunities across that," Bailey said as quoted by Cricinfo.

"I still think we have that style of player within that squad. It's not Steve Smith, the retirements of Steve, Glenn and even Marcus Stoinis- they were three very good role-players within that team," Bailey added.

Bailey also highlighted the versatility of Australia’s ODI middle order, stressing that players must be capable of adapting to different match situations rather than being confined to fixed roles. He noted that batters may be required to rebuild the innings after an early wicket or shift gears and accelerate during the final overs. According to Bailey, the ability to adapt and evolve according to the demands of the game will be crucial for Australia’s success.

"One of the great advantages, I think, of the way this one-day group has been evolving over the last period of time is that ability for players to morph. The hard thing through [the] middle order in one-day cricket is that there's not really a specific role. You can be in at two or three for not many, or you can be in at two or three for plenty, and you're trying to ice the cake or ice the chase at the back end," Bailey said.

"So that ability to be flexible or adapt your game to what's playing out in front of you is really important. I think we've got a number of players that have done that and will continue to emerge to do that. And then clearly as we get closer to a World Cup, you start to really refine that and bed that down," he concluded.